The Graduate Meeting of Mutual Killing
by ReadingForever
Summary: Sixteen former students of Hope's Peak are trapped in an underground bunker, under the ruling of the loathed Monobear. The group tries to find who exactly put them in this situation, and the reasons behind it, while trying to survive, all before they die of starvation.
1. Prologue I

**Welcome.**

**So, the purpose of this story: this is a concept that has been around my mind for the last two months or so. During this time I have been planning this story carefully, and I have everything planned, every single detail, so now it is time to write it! I'll complete it, no matter how long it takes, although it'll take a while, as I'm also writing a different story in another fandom.**

**This story happens after the events of Dangan Ronpa 1. Otherwise, nothing else is specified in the timeline.**

**Canon elements? Besides Monobear, the mention of Hope's Peak, and the elements this story has, in terms of the whole (ab)normal days-abnormal days-investigation-trial dichotomy, there are none, besides mentions to canon characters. Everybody else are original characters created for the purpose of being part of this story.**

**As it is expected, there are spoilers. I'm not going into detail with them, but they're pretty major ones.**

**Now that the presentation has been done, it is time to start. Feel free to review or comment anything.**

**Note that in the first paragraphs, some 'it' are referencing to the person exploring the ruins. It is pretty hard to keep it gender-neutral, eh?**

* * *

The abandoned building of Hope's Peak. It wasn't long since that group of fifteen students got locked into a game of mutual killing. Enoshima was truly wretched, and the person exploring the academy doubted there would ever be somebody like her again. Oh, the explorer really loathed Enoshima, although it couldn't avoid being thankful for some of the consequences of her work.

The world outside was truly a haven for the explorer. It had any liberties to do whatever it wanted, so not everything was bad.

The explorer entered the elevator behind the red door. It was a new element, the explorer was sure it wasn't there during the time the explorer attended the academy.

At the end of the descent, the explorer found some sort of round courtroom, with sixteen stands. It had several pictures of people the explorer had seen before in a file, but it had no idea about the names of those people. And it didn't care, either. They were dead.

The explorer then saw something it hadn't expected to see. There was a strange teddy bear in middle of the circle formed by the stands, down on the floor. The explorer picked it up, and observed the finding. It recognized the bear instantly. The very same bear that filled the world out there with despair. The explorer fought the urge to destroy it, and went back to the elevator along with the bear.

That person continued checking every room inside the building, looking for anything useful. There wasn't anything remarkable, until it found the controlling room. The explorer sat on the chair, and contemplated the computer terminal in front of it. It managed to turn the computer on, and soon learned that it was what controlled the bear. Just for fun, the explorer made the bear walk and say very bad puns. So that is how Enoshima controlled Monobear. It had to admit that the leader of SHSL was clever.

Then a horrible idea crossed the explorer's mind. Maybe…just maybe…Monobear could be useful for the plans it had formed a while ago. Now that the explorer had found the mascot of the despair, it had a way to kickstart its own fun.

The person turned off the controls and meditated, planning each phase of its ideas. It wasn't going to be hard to start everything, and once it was in motion, it would have no way to be stopped, not even for the person itself, but if it worked, it would bring great benefits for its mastermind.

The explorer smirked. Why not? It was all or nothing.

-ooooo-

Among the remains of the most recent abandoned grocery store in the area, a lone figure searches between the boxes in the back. The woman crouches and pulls several food items, putting them inside a shopping cart she had taken from the front. Once she was satisfied with what she found, she decided to call it a day.

She hated to feel like a vulture looking for carrion, but that is how things were in those days. The World's Most Despair-Inducing Incident had changed everything, and now ransacking had turned into a way to live.

Akane Ogata pushed her shopping cart outside, and cautiously looked around the street she was in. She wanted to avoid any confrontations with other survivors, or with any of those people who fell into despair. Those people with the bear masks. She still had bruises from her last encounter with them, she was lucky to have survived.

How did things get like this? When she graduated from Hope's Peak four years ago, she had been promised she would have success in life. And it was true for those four years. A very famous pharmaceutical company had hired her, thanks to her ability as the Super High School Level Chemist. It was a very important job, and the salary was simply awesome. Being graduated from Hope's Peak really meant having the whole life solved.

At least until everything turned into a whole mess, with humanity struggling to survive. Civilization came to an end, in most of the senses. The company she worked for managed to continue functioning for six months, and then it fell apart when its owner and most of the administrative board were murdered. Everybody in the company had to abandon the jobs, and the odds of finding another one were practically zero.

Akane had a lot of money stored, but now money didn't mean as much as before. Besides, with the situation, it could be possible that being rich would turn her into a target for those who were desperate enough.

How many times had she avoided death until now? She had lost count, and she had no idea how longer she would be able to resist.

Soon she arrived to the apartment building she lived in. The building seemed like it would fall in any moment, but for her it was the best hideout there was. Akane pushed the cart through the main door, until she reached her apartment. Before she opened the door, she heard a voice behind her.

-"Akane-chan? Are you home? Ah, yes. How did it go?"-

A frail old lady welcomed here, from one of the other apartments. Akane smiled. –"It went pretty good. I found enough food for another week or so. Want some?"- she said, trying to give the old woman a jar of honey. The old woman took it, muttering how grateful she was.

-"There is also something else for you, Akane-chan. It seems to be a letter"- she said, passing the ex-chemist a letter. Akane took it, and after some small talk more, she entered her apartment with her shopping cart.

Akane sat on her old couch, and opened the letter. It had a highly striking logo on top. -"Future Foundation"- she read aloud. She had vaguely heard about that foundation before. They were supposedly a group of people working to stop The World's Most Despair-Inducing Incident. Why would they send her a letter?

_Mistress Akane Ogata, Super High School Level Chemist._

_You have been selected to be part of an important project called 'Renovation'. You'll be gathered along with other Hope's Peak graduates, and along with us, the Future Foundation, we'll set the world straight once again._

_If you choose to collaborate with us, you may meet us on Tuesday, April 20__th__, on the Downtown Subway Station. You'll find a door marked with our logo. That is the door to our underground shelter, especially tailored to meet any necessities you and your partners will have._

_If you choose not to collaborate with us, you may continue with your daily life._

_Thank you for your attention._

_Masamune Toyotomi, Committee for a Better Tomorrow, Future Foundation._

To say Akane was surprised was an understatement. She had been summoned by the Future Foundation! And they also had information from her, as well. They knew where she lived, who she was, and who knows what else.

The letter made her uncomfortable. The meeting was supposed to be the next day. It was in an underground shelter, in a subway station. It was sketchy and weird beyond all thought, why would she choose to accept? With a dismissive gesture, she threw the letter on the floor.

But the thought that she could help to change the world back stayed in her mind. She could return things to normality. No more having to search for food in abandoned stores. No more avoiding people on the streets. No more fear of waking up to see a maniac to her side, holding a knife to her throat, to steal everything she owned. No more despair.

The next day, she found herself staring down the dark entrance of the subway station. Akane took the flashlight she borrowed from that old lady, and started descending. It was abandoned, as expected. Graffitis filled the walls, most of them having that damned bear scribbled. She was already starting to dread coming there. Where was that door?

Ah, there it was. Indeed, it had the Future Foundation logo engraved in there. She opened it for a bit, and peeked through the hole. It was dark inside. Akane entered the room, and shone the flashlight around.

The dizzy feeling came in that moment. It felt as if she had been chloroformed.

_"I shouldn't have come in here_" was her last thought before vanishing.

-ooooo-

Akane rubbed her eyes, before waking up. She opened them.

She was in some kind of bedroom. She looked around, scared yet intrigued. The room was the last thing she had expected to see. It was a perfect imitation of what had been her room in Hope's Peak. It even had a few lab coats. It had been a long time since she had used one. Akane took one.

She gasped. How the hell had she gotten in there? Hope's Peak had been destroyed, hadn't it? That was the rumor. Then how was she in the room?

Akane stood, and walked to one of the two doors. She tried to open it, but it didn't work. There was an odd contraption on the side, attached to the wall. It seemed made to insert some kind of really thin object. She turned her attention to the other door. It opened easily. There was a hall. From her position, she could hear voices coming from some location at the end of the hallway.

She walked towards there, anxious to see somebody. While she walked, she noticed several differences that pointed her that she definitely wasn't in Hope's Peak. She remembered that at the end of the bedroom hallway, there was a gate to the cafeteria, another to the public bath, one door to the storage, and the gate that led to the school section of the building. In the place she was in, there was only one gate. But the voices didn't come from behind it. They came from what would have led to the school.

Akane entered what was at the end of the tunnel. It was some kind of meeting room, and there were other fifteen people already in there. Several were already talking, as if they weren't in big trouble.

The Chemist walked to the front row, doubting what she should say. She waited until somebody noticed her.

-"Here is the last person! About time!"- a young woman with a red leather coat shouted aloud, making everybody look at Akane. The Chemist recoiled, due to the sudden surge of attention.

-"I counted sixteen bedrooms, so now we're all finally together"- another one, with a highly decorated robe, remarked.

-"What's going on?"- Akane asked, trying to look as calm as possible. She didn't want to seem all panicky.

-"I heard the voices here, and followed them. We're meeting each other. We're going to change the world, so we may as well get along!"- a third woman, with sunglasses, said. That sparked something in Akane's memory. The letter. She had been called into an underground shelter, but as much as she tried, she couldn't remember who had called her in there.

-"So this is the shelter. Who had called us here? I don't remember"- Akane asked. A very robust man had approached, bringing other people with him.

-"That is the funny thing. I don't remember, but that may be because I have pretty bad memory"-

-"I can't remember either, nor I can find the letter itself"- another young guy commented, then looking at somebody who was identical to him –"Yukio, where did you leave the letters?"- His twin shrugged.

-"I can't be the only one who finds that pretty worrisome"- the young lady with the square glasses said, looking pensive.

-"Well, until we find sense in that, why don't we greet the new teammate?"- the robust one said with a carefree tone –"Let me start. Nice to meet you! I'm Saburou Hikasa. I was known as Super High School Level Weightlifter"- he extended a hand. Akane's own hand ached, after the greeting. –"Go ahead, talk with others"- The Chemist nodded, and couldn't avoid remembering hearing about Hikasa.

_Saburou Hikasa, SHSL Weightlifter, 30 years old. The Hercules of Japan. Despite his age when he was in school, he was said to have upper body strength matching those in the Olympic team. _

-"Besides, it can't be bad for us to be here, right? We were called to save the world"- Hikasa said.

Akane was more skeptical. -"I'd be more calmed if I could remember who called us here"-

-"Don't worry, we'll meet him or her shortly. The podium is set, see?"- Hikasa pointed at the podium. Akane couldn't avoid thinking there was something odd about it. -"Now go and meet the rest. Forget about the letter"- and with those words, Hikasa sat.

_How can you be so calmed?_

Everybody else had sit down, still talking with each other. Akane decided to start meeting them in the order they were sitting.

The closest graduate to her was a young man with glasses, talking animatedly with one of the twins. Akane interrupted softly.

-"Ah! Nice to meet you. I'm Kaiji Kudo"- he greeted with great enthusiasm.

_Kaiji Kudo, SHSL Philanthropist, 29 years old. A very considerate man who grew in a rough neighborhood, who selflessly took care of the well-being of his whole neighborhood, especially in times of great peril._

-"Don't worry, Ogata-kun. Everything will be okay, I'm sure of it"-. It was as if Kudo had felt her inner worry about her situation. She felt somewhat comforted by his words, even if they were vague.

-"H-How nice of you"-

-'It's just being polite. Nothing too remarkable"-

-"Politeness isn't mankind's main trait right now"- Akane muttered. Kudo laughed, as if Akane hadn't said the ugly truth.

-"I was always told to help others. Being kind can be a good help at times. If you ever need something, just come to me. I'll gladly listen to any problems you have."-

_At least he seems reliable._

It was now the twins' turn. Both stood at the same time. They were identical, down to the way they dressed. The only difference she could notice were those thin ribbons on their necks. The one with the red ribbon talked first. –"Greetings. My name is Reiji Ohmoto, the widely renowned Super High School Level Law Master"- he introduced himself pompously. Akane couldn't avoid feeling annoyance at him. Reiji signaled his brother. As if in cue, the twin with the green ribbon, talked.

-"O-O-Oh. I'm Yukio. I'm his assistant"-

_The Ohmoto twins…Reiji Ohmoto, SHSL Law Master. It was said he could work by himself with almost any case, in any court, but he is never alone. Yukio Ohmoto is the SHSL Law Assistant. A timid young man who helps him with everything. The malicious rumors used to say that Reiji couldn't even dress himself without Yukio's help. That is an exaggeration, right?_

_Both are 25 years old._

-"It must be nice to be here with your brother"- Akane said, trying to break the ice.

-"It's fine. I'd rather to be out of here, though. The problems of the world aren't really my concern"- Reiji said, coldly.

-"If the world doesn't stop being so despairing, then there won't be any work for you"- Yukio whispered. Reiji looked as if he had been revealed the secrets of the universe.

-"Oh...then I'll do my best. I'm tired of living in that gas station"-

Akane smiled, uncomfortable. _Tell me that the first impression won't last forever_

Reiji continued talking with Kudo. Yukio sighed. -"Sorry for his behavior. He can be a real pain in the ass at times"- he whispered before sitting back to listen.

_The other twin doesn't seem to be a bad person. By the look of things, it looks like the rumors are true to an extent._

The twins sat down, and Reiji continued talking to Kudo. Yukio just stared forward.

Next to them was…a teenager. Akane wasn't expecting to see such a young person in the shelter. He was trying to listen to Reiji and Kudo.-"Uuuuh…excuse me? Hello?"- Akane tried to get him to pay attention to her. The teenager looked up.

-"What?"-

Akane stayed silent. The teenager seemed to catch up. –"Ah, yes. I'm Masaru Miyata. Is that all? I'm trying to join the conversation"- then he continued with what he was doing.

_Seems more like snooping to me._

_ Masaru Miyata, SHSL CEO. 17 years old. A teenager with great influence, who reached High School at an early age. During a summer, he created a temporal company of bike painting in his garage, as some sort of project, but he managed to make it so successful that it turned into an official company, giving job to a at least a dozen people, and expanding it to car and buses painting and repairing. All because of his remarkable administrative abilities and his outstanding marketing plans._

-"You're still here"- the CEO was exasperated.

-"It was just a minute of your time! There was no need to be rude"-

-"There was also no need for a presentation. I already know who you are, and it'd be outrageous if you didn't know who I am"- and with those words, he ignored anything else Akane tried to say. The Chemist was getting frustrated.

_Who the hell does he think he is?_

Once it was clear he wouldn't talk to her again, she stepped forward to the next seat, but she hadn't noticed that a person had walked to her. They collided. Akane stumbled back. –"I'm really sorry!"- she apologized hurriedly.

The woman in the military uniform groaned. –"It is okay. I just came to say hi. I'm Tomoe Chiba, SHSL Strategist"-

Once Akane had made sure that Chiba was okay, the Strategist took a militar stance. She was smiling, as if she had accomplished something.

_Tomoe Chiba, SHSL Strategist, 28 years old. A very analytical woman. It is unknown how she managed to make her abilities known, but she has helped the military and the police several times, triumphing each time. It was expected from her to be the next Chief of Police, at least until the whole…end of civilization thing happened._

-"Listen, I think that after whatever presentation there is soon, we should all reunite at the cafeteria, at the very least to discuss what we all can do to help the world, keeping in mind whatever we'll be told. Are you fine with it?"-

-"Sure"- Akane replied. Chiba grinned.

-"Good, soldier. You may be dismissed"- and then Chiba went to talk to Miyata.

_I sense some very serious leader vibes from her. Having a SHSL Strategist as leader of the team actually sounds like a good idea_

Akane now turned to the person she was going to greet before Chiba had interrupted her path. The person in front of the Chemist was clearly a foreigner. For a moment Akane wondered if he could speak Japanese, but the foreigner started the conversation.

-"Hi there! I'm Ian Curtis"-

Akane introduced herself, but she felt uncomfortable. Mainly because she had never heard of Ian Curtis before. It is possible it was because he came from a different country. –"What's your talent, Curtis-san?"-

-"Ah? I'm a painter. Not very impressive, eh?"- Curtis seemed almost embarrassed.

_Ian Curtis…SHSL Painter. I don't know anything else about him. Seems to be 29 years old._

-"Why have I never heard of you before?"- Akane asked.

Curtis shrugged. -"I arrived to the country a week ago"-

-"That doesn't answer anything. But you did graduate from Hope's Peak, didn't you?"-

-"Of course I did"-

-"Then why is this the first time I see your name related to Hope's Peak?"-

-"They're not really proud of me. My grades were really mediocre, you know"- Curtis was blushing, due to the embarrassment.

_That sounds plausible. It was a school for the elite, after all. A bad student would make it look bad_

Curtis sat, mumbling something about bad memories. Akane decided to leave him alone, after she unintentionally made him feel bad.

The lady with the square glasses was next. She was immersed in a book, and Akane needed several attempts before she looked up.

-"Hello. I'm Chihiro Toriumi"- she said, uninterested, and continued reading, but Akane wasn't going to go away yet.

-"Toriumi-san! Don't you remember me?"-Akane said, somewhat hurt. Toriumi again looked at Akane. -"Ogata, the Chemist, remember?"-

_Chihiro Toriumi, SHSL Private Tutor. Now 24 years old. A gifted girl, academically. She was said to be able to dispel any doubts one had about anything. Even if she originally didn't know about the topic, a glance to some information would be enough to orientate her._

Toriumi took off her glasses, with a more human expression on her face. -"The one who knew jackshit about literature?"-

-"That wasn't how I expected you to remember me..."-Akane was hurt by Toriumi's words. The Tutor smiled warmly.

-"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's great to see somebody familiar here. We'll make a great team"-

After some short talk more, Akane went to talk to the next one, feeling better. A familiar face, even if it is Toriumi, was enough to make her feel like she fit in the group.

The man was almost asleep. Akane hesitated if she should wake him up, when he yawned and opened his eyes.

-"Aaaaah...yes?"- he stammered.

-"Hi! I'm Akane Ogata, SHSL Chemist"-

-"Nice! The name is Takeshi Toyogushi, the stunts are my business"- he extended his hand.

_Takeshi Toyogushi, SHSL Stuntsman. 31 years old. In the time the world wasn't a despair mess, this man was world famous due to his daring stunts, especially when it involved his motorcycle._

Toyogushi yawned again. -"Sorry. I get sleepy when I'm not moving. Physical activity is my turf, after all"-

-"There will be time for sleeping later"-

-"I know. But that thing..."- he pointed at the podium -"...better start soon. If I don't sleep, I become all fidgety. How longer will I last..."-

_He seems okay. At least he may be useful later_

Akane didn't even move from where she was standing, when another of her new teammates approached.

-"Hello! May you give me a minute of your time?"-

Akane smiled politely, and waited for what she expected would be a quick presentation. Instead, the guy started a long spiel about several products she could be interested in, and saying she should go to his room to check them. The Chemist didn't resist anymore.

-"Cut that out!"-

The guy stopped, and rubbed his hands sheepily. -"Sorry ma'am. I got carried away. Selling stuff was my way to live, you know. Hoshio Saitou, at your service"-

_Hoshio Saitou, SHSL Salesman. 24 years old. There was a saying about him: 'If you have a hard time selling anything, give it to Saitou and he'll do it for you. Guaranteed'. Novelty stores really adored the Salesman's abilities._

-"It's nice to meet somebody who is obviously a very talented person"- Saitou now was shamelessly complimenting Akane. She managed to get away of him saying she needed to meet the rest

_God, I hope that he doesn't continue the asskissing. Are those his selling techniques?_ Still, she had to admit that a couple products he had mentioned were lingering in her mind.

The next person in line was busy playing with a handheld console. -"Hey, dear. I'm Masashi Sakurai. What's your talent?"-

-"I'm a Chemist!"- Akane replied, proudly. Sakurai nodded.

-"Nice! I got into Hope's Peak due to sheer luck, so there is nothing else to say about me"-

_Ah! A SHSL Good Luck! 23 years old. There isn't a lot to say about him._

-"But you got called to change the world! That shows you do have something to offer"- Akane said, trying to make him open up. Sakurai sighed theatrically.

-"We'll see"-

_It is a bit odd that a SHSL Good Luck got summoned here. Maybe whoever sent the letters saw something special in him_

The next in the group was the lady with the overly-decorated robe. She had some sort of mystical aura around her.

-"Hi, I'm Akane Ogata"-

-"Aya Sawashiro, the Medium from Osaka"- she looked at Akane's hairline. Later Akane would notice that Sawashiro never looked at anybody else to the eyes.

_Aya Sawashiro, SHSL Medium. 24 years old. It is said she has the ability to summon the dead, and communicate with what is beyond. A lot of people has paid her to contact their defunct loved ones, and it is said she has provided peace to the living and the dead._

-"I suppose that you, as a science woman, don't believe in ghosts"- Sawashiro remarked.

-"I do believe in them, but how did you know I'm into the science field?"-

-"The dead told me"- Sawashiro said grimly, but few seconds later she started laughing. -"Hahahaha, I'm kidding! I heard you telling others that you were a chemist. Besides, the lab coat is practically a neon sign about your affiliation"-

Ah, true. She was still wearing that. Akane laughed too, and left Sawashiro there.

_She isn't the overly mystical person I imagined she would be. It should be nice to work with her_

The last male person Akane hadn't met yet was sitting just behind Sawashiro. He tipped his hat towards the Chemist, as a greeting.

-"I'm Mishio Matsukaze. Have you heard about me?"-

Akane indeed had heard about Matsukaze.

_Mishio Matsukaze, SHSL Detective. 30 years old. A man who is said to have the greatest investigative mind of the century. Very few have seen him working, but it is said he can solve any mystery, no matter how complicated it is._

-"It is nice to meet you, lady. If you ever need anything, then don't hesitate to contact me"- Matsukaze offered. Akane now had two people to talk with if there were something troubling her. She replied how grateful she was. Matsukaze once again tipped his hat, this time as a farewell.

_Don't swoon, Akane. You're in public._

There were only two more graduates left. The next one was the first woman who talked to Akane, the one with the red leather coat.

-"Look who finally came to greet me! Leaving me for almost last…some gall you have!"- she said, in a playful tone. Akane hoped that she wasn't mad.

-"I'm Akane Ogata"-

-"Mika Yamaguchi. I'm a fashion designer, don't ever forget that"- she said, winking.

_Mika Yamaguchi, SHSL Fashion Designer. 23 years old. She was said to be Junko Enoshima's student, despite having graduated much before her, giving her mentor all her creations. And now, after it was revealed that Enoshima was the one behind The World's Most Despair-Inducing Incident …I can only hope Yamaguchi won't follow her steps in that, as well._

-"Is there something wrong, Ogata-kun?"- Yamaguchi asked, tilting her head. Akane assured her that it was nothing. Yamaguchi didn't seem convinced.

-"You know, I like you! Maybe we could be friends" – Yamaguchi left behind Akane's behavior, and continued. The Chemist felt flattered to hear such a straightforward statement. She stammered a 'sure', and left Yamaguchi.

The last teammate was the woman with the sunglasses. She had been looking at Akane, as if she were judging how good of a person she would be.

-"Nice to meet you, miss Ogata. I'm Ginchiyo. No last name, just Ginchiyo. I'm a film maker-

_The Legendary Ginchiyo, SHSL Film Maker. 30 years old. She is said to have created the most critically acclaimed short movie made by anybody in Japan, EVER, The Flight of the Red Crane. She went into history as the best student that ever studied in Hope's Peak._

-"It is such a honor to meet you!"- Akane said with a lot of enthusiasm. Ginchiyo put her sunglasses on her forehead and smiled.

-"You're not going to cut a strand of my hair while I sleep so you can brag about meeting me, will you?"-

Akane almost choked. It was a ridiculous question. -"What? No!"-

-"Then we'll get along just fine. See you! And, for the record: it has happened to me before"- and with those words, she walked to the other side of the room.

_I can't wait to meet her better!_

Akane had now met the rest of the people in the room. They were a relatively interesting bunch. She liked some, and disliked others, but at the end, they still were part of the team. The Chemist went to the front and sat down. The only thing left was to wait for whoever called them to make some sort of speech. Some people were getting impatient, though.

-"How much longer will this take? I have been here for an hour!"- Curtis groaned.

-"Maybe he or she forgot about us"- Matsukaze said. His words caused more groans and complaints. -"Coming here was a waste of time. I'm going out of here"- the Detective stood, and walked towards the exit of the room.

-"D-D-D-Do you even know how to get out of the underground shelter?"- Yukio asked. Matsukaze stopped instantly.

-"We should wait a bit longer. This is our chance of a lifetime. Let's not waste it until we're sure it is useless"- Kudo said, putting a hand on Matsukaze's shoulder. The Detective sighed, but returned to his seat.

-"It better not take much longer"- Akane mumbled. Several others agreed with her, but the patience in the group didn't last much longer. Five minutes later, Ginchiyo was arguing as to why everybody should leave, while Chiba supported staying. The Film Maker was about to push Chiba aside, when a new voice reverberated in the room.

-"Why are you all in a hurry? It isn't like anybody outside is waiting for you!"- The voice said, clearly trying to taunt several of the teammates. Everybody looked around, looking for whoever had said that. Then Sawashiro saw him. -"Over there!"- She pointed at the podium. It wasn't empty anymore. There was now a bear that everybody in the room knew too well. They had avoided its corrupting influence, but now there was no way to avoid it. The doors of the conference room closed, leaving everybody trapped.

_No...not him...no, please, don't let it be Monobear! _


	2. Prologue II

**The truth is that I feel somewhat nervous about writing Monobear's lines. I feel I don't dominate enough his personality. Eh.**

* * *

Monobear observed the graduates. Most were looking at him, horrified, while Sawashiro tried to open the doors. The tension in the ambient was filled with disbelief.

The bear continued talking. -"Did I arrive late? Time sure flies when one is having fun! I was so focused scheming and observing all of you, that I almost forgot it is my duty as Hope's Peak's Headmaster to make a cheesy inspirational speech for all of you!"-

-"Scheming? Headmaster? Inspiration?"- Yukio mumbled, confused.

-"Explain yourself now, you fiend!"- Sawashiro left the doors, and walked stomping until she was on the front row.

-"Don't rush the main event. First get used to my presence, because you'll be seeing it until the end of your lives...literally!"- the bear laughed, enjoying everybody's expressions.

-"Literally? What do you mean?"- Curtis gasped.

-"It means exactly what I said. Most of you will die in this bunker, with me as your company. Not a bad company, if you ask me! After all, that is what I was made for"-

-"You...you will kill us?!"- Sakurai was very pale.

-"I won't. What sense would the Graduate Meeting of Mutual Killing have if I killed you all right here? It would be boring! Despairingly boring, no emotion at all!"-Monobear shouted.

-"He said...Mutual Killing?"- Reiji whispered to Yukio, who simply nodded. Reiji bit his fist.

-"You don't mean that this will be a repeat of what happened in Hope's Peak a while ago, right?"- Toyogushi asked, even if he already had a feeling of what the answer would be. Akane had heard about the incident too. It had been transmitted via TV, after all.

-"You bastards should all know what it means, but I'll give a short explanation, for the sake of those who are slower than the rest:

If you want to get out of this bunker, then kill somebody without getting caught! That is the core of the experience. After that..."-

-"Do you think that we'll kill each other just because you said we should? Are you delusional?"- Akane shouted, and once again people agreed with her.

-"We're not going to fall for the same tricks you used on the other group. We're older and more mature"- Chiba said smugly.

-"I have a few aces up my sleeve, Chiba-kun. But since you insist to make me crush your hopes faster, then I'll oblige. I'm a very considerate bear, after all!

The reason you all will want to get out is simple: there is a timebomb in this very same conference room!"-

Panic spread tbrough the graduates. -"A bomb?!"- Ginchiyo shrieked before her voice was drowned by other people's fears. Monobear watched the panic, filled with glee.

-"Upupupu, I think I worded it wrong. My bad! I meant to say that there are sixteen timebombs: your own bodies"-

The panic was replaced by confusion. -"Is he saying there are bombs inside us?"- Yamaguchi feigned calmness, but she started to inspect her body.

-"Do you all have to take everything so literal? I mean that there is food in this bunker, but it'll last for around two weeks, if it is for all of you. After you run out of food, starving will be the only option. Either that or cannibalism. This is a bear-eats-bear world, after all!"-

Just as Monobear expected, it did crush most of the hope the Graduates had. They were now realizing the seriousness of the situation.

-"If you're going to cause trouble, then I don't see why we shouldn't get rid of you"- Miyata said sourly, while Hikasa approached the bear menacingly, cracking his knuckles. Monobear wasn't fazed by the threats.

-"The rules for the Graduate Meeting of Mutual Killing says why you can't. Read and obey them. Troublemakers won't be forgiven"- Monobear bared his claws, and pointed to a table near to him. Now there was a pile of thin tablets, around the size of a card. Chiba approached them warily, as if expecting them to explode anytime. She grabbed all of them, and gave each one to their owners. Once she had hers in her hands, Akane checked the rules.

_Please, let this be just a test of whoever gathered us here..._ Akane thought, but the rules made it clear that the reality was harsher than she thought it was.

-"Those will be your IDs. Don't lose them. Now that is all there was needed to be announced. Kill, get away of it, and you'll be granted freedom. Enjoy your Graduates Meeting, bastards!"- Monobear disappeared into the podium, and the doors of the conference room opened with a click. Everybody was stunned, but Chiba didn't let anybody leave the place.

-"We need to organize ourselves. First than all: if you see anybody trying to kill, or sense any nefarious planning, don't be afraid to use brute force to restrain the offender. Our lives are in stake, and this shelter is our battlefield.

Now, let's make teams to explore this place. At the end of the bedroom hall, there are some stairs going downwards, meaning there is more to see. We'll all gather in the cafeteria in one hour, to inform of our findings"-

Chiba started to divide the people in teams, and assigned them areas to check. Akane was paired with Saitou and Miyata, and they were ordered to check the bedrooms.

Akane was determined to find something useful, and Miyata expressed the same intention. He wasn't so rude towards Akane now, perhaps because he understood how bad the situation was, or because he was afraid that being mean would get him killed. Saitou was a nervous wreck, babbling about food and starving.

-"Are textiles edible? I think they are...I'll eat my clothes after we run out of food"- Saitou said.

-"That is, if you're still alive at that point"- Miyata snickered. Saitou didn't take well Miyata's words, and started to weep.

-"Please, Miyata-kun, protect me! You seem strong enough for that, and very smart as well!"- Saitou pleaded, throwing himself at the CEO. Miyata staggered back in disgust.

-"Of all people, we had to be paired with this coward. At least you have some spine, Ogata"- Miyata complimented. They finally reached the bedroom halls.

-Let's check my room first"- Akane proposed, and tried to open the door, but she was unable to. She rattled the door.

-"I think you need to put your ID here"- Miyata said, pointing to the contraption on the wall. Akane inserted her ID, and the door unlocked softly.

The room was small, only with the most indispensable stuff. A bed, which Saitou said was comfortable, a closet, which Miyata examined and found nothing worthwhile (I expected secret compartments, he explained), and a desk, which Akane investigated, only finding dust.

-"If I'm not mistaken, this is the bathroom"- Miyata said, looking at the second door -"Why does one need to use the ID to enter here, though?"- Akane didn't reply, she just used her ID to unlock the bathroom. They both entered, with Saitou tagging along.

The bathroom was normal. A toilet, a sink, a trash bin and a shower. The only unusual element was a door at the opposite wall of the one Akane had unlocked. Saitou tried to open it, without success. -"Do you think this could lead to an exit?"-

-"The map says that this door leads to the painter's bedroom"- Miyata was checking his own ID. Akane checked her maps as well. The CEO was right, the room at the other side belonged to Curtis.

-"Every two bedrooms has a shared bathroom"- Akane informed.

After leaving Akane's bedroom, they went to check Miyata and Saitou's bedrooms. There was nothing to note in them, although Miyata was convinced that he needed to check further the shared bathrooms.

Soon the hour passed, and the trio went to the cafeteria to report their findings. Most teams were already waiting there. Once Ginchiyo, Yamaguchi and Hikasa entered, the reports started.

-"My team checked the cafeteria and the kitchen. We found a fridge and a pantry, and the prospects are grim, we'll run out of food someday. There is also a locked room, which I suppose is a storage"- Chiba said.

-"The bedrooms are nice"- Miyata was next to inform -"The bathrooms are shared, though, but one needs the ID to enter them. Also, if you see that guy chewing on his underwear, take that as your cue to lock him in the pantry"- he pointed at Saitou.

-"We found a laundry room, along with a trash room. The washing machines work perfectly, the trash compactor does as well. There was also this stairway, but it is blocked with shutters"- Yukio notified.

-"There is some sort of lounge, full of couches, but nothing remarkable in it. There is a cool fountain, though!"- Kudo said.

Now the last team piped up. -"We found...a strange door. It is metallic and industrial, the type of door I think would cover the exit of this hell bunker"- Hikasa said. The possibility of the exit being so close made some propose they try to force it open. Hikasa hit the table with his fist. -"We spend a whole hour trying to open it. It is impossible unless we find, like, explosives or something like that"-

-"I think there is something we can deduce from all of this: building a shelter like this needs a lot of time. Only a person or a group with enough power and influence could do something like this"- Yukio noted.

-"People with influence, in a time like this? It can only be Enoshima's group. We fell in the claws of SHSL Despair"- Toriumi said grimly. There was silence for a while.

-"Monobear's presence confirms it"- Sakurai muttered, pointing what was obvious for most. -"Damn it, I would love Monobear if it weren't for what he represents. He is cool, in a sense"-

-"I have been thinking...could it be that one of us is responsible for all of this?"- Matsukaze mused. Judging from the expressions the other people had, the thought had never crossed their minds. Matsukaze continued -"I have noticed something odd: there are no cameras anywhere, which means that we're not being observed. However, the person who controls Monobear knew exactly where we were. That damned puppet mocked us while we were investigating"-

-"He appeared in front of us, as well!"- Sawashiro exclaimed. The Detective nodded.

-"Yes. Monobear has some way to know where we are. I'm leaning to think that the bear has some sort of AI, but it can't be far from its controller, in case any changes to its programming is needed. Nobody from outside can come and do that, we're sealed and underground. Not even waves or similar should be able to enter"-

-"So you mean that for all I know, you..."- Ginchiyo pointed at the Detective -"...or her..."- she pointed at Toriumi -"...or him..."- pointed at Saitou -"...could be the one who locked us here?"-

-"Exactly. You never know"-

-"I'll wring the Mastermind's neck, once I find who is responsible of this"- Hikasa growled.

-"We won't get anywhere with threats. Let's call it a day, people. Try to find clues towards the Mastermind's identity. You're all dismissed, soldiers"- Chiba finished the meeting.

Everybody started to leave the cafeteria. Akane went to her room and laid on her bed. One of the fifteen people she had met was the one who trapped her in an underground shelter. Not only that, but she also had a death threat over her head. Whether it was by starving or...being killed by somebody else.


	3. Chapter 1 - (Ab)normal Days

**Free Time!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: It's Like Losing a Limb to Despair **

The next day, Akane opened her eyes. She had dreamed she was free, in a world where there were no monochrome bears, or anything related to despair. How beautiful it was.

She looked at her clock. It was 10:00 AM. She bolted out of bed, alarmed of how late it was. She put her labcoat on, and rushed to the cafeteria. Hopefully there was still some food. Akane entered, and went straight to the kitchen. Hisaka, the Weightlifter, was there. -"Good morning, Ogata-kun"- he greeted. She greeted back, and started to look around for her breakfast. -"You won't find anything left. That military chick made rations for everybody. Yours should be inside the oven"-

Akane opened the oven, and found food packed with tin foil. Moments later she was eating in the cafeteria, with Hikasa near. -"You missed our breakfast meeting"-

Akane scratched her head, sheepishly. -"I thought I'd be awoken by some sort of morning announcement or something"-

-"Who am I, your mother?"-

Akane turned around, startled. Monobear was standing behind her. Hikasa facepalmed. Monobear continued: "You're an adult! If you don't start getting your life straight, you'll never get anywhere. I have heard not being trapped in a bunker is a great first step, upupupu"-

-Go away, jerk"- Akane had regained the composure. Monobear pretended to be hurt. -"And I was just trying to be friendly. Nobody appreciates the effort I do to make this an orderly massacre"-

-"I said 'go away'"-

-"Okay, fussypits"-

Monobear left the cafeteria, while Akane groaned. -"He has been bothering everybody. When will he understand that we won't kill?"-

Akane was more pessimistic. -"But we'll still run out of food unless we escape..."- Hikasa rolled his eyes.

-"Don't make a scene, please. I had enough when that Salesman started shouting about how small the rations were"-

Akane smiled. She herself had seen how Saitou could be. His personality was annoying, but she couldn't really blame him, in this situation. Maybe outside he was different.

Now that she thought about it, all her classmates most likely had interesting traits to share with her...meeting them further could be a good idea, at least to know who she was dealing with.

-"I'll go talk with some people, Hikasa-san. Thank you for the breakfast"- Hikasa just waved, and took the dishes to the kitchen.

_I'll start with whoever I see first. It is exciting! Come on, let it be somebody good!_

Akane also took this as a chance to explore the places she hadn't checked yet. _Kudo said there is a lounge, right? That should be a good place to start_

The Lounge only had one person in it. Michio Matsukaze was writing something on a notebook. He seemed to be deeply concentrated. For a moment Akane doubted if she should interrupt him, but he had already sensed her presence. -"Ah, hi. You're Ogata-kun, aren't you?"-

The Chemist sat in the couch in front of Matsukaze. -"Yes, that is me. Sorry, just thought it would be good to meet each other better"- The Detective made some sort of noise, as if he had said 'Aha, I see', but didn't say anything. Akane grinned awkwardly. -"So! Tell me, did you enjoy studying in Hope's Peak?"-

-"It was okay, although those scientists were annoying with all that investigating stuff they did on me"- Matsukaze replied without stopping what he was doing. Now he was drawing a map of the shelter.

-"Is it hard to be a detective?"-

-"It is fine, as long as one has certain abilities"- he wrote a few notes on the sides. Akane waited, but Matsukaze didn't say anything else, nor made further attempts to continue the conversation. This 'being friendly' business wasn't going as good as Akane thought it would go.

-"You know that there is a map in your ID, right? You don't have to draw one yourself"-

-"Can you stop being a burden? Thanks"- he said, with obvious annoyance. Akane was taken aback. Matsukaze must have felt something, because he sighed and closed his notebook. -"I'm sorry, Ogata-kun. I didn't mean to be rude"-

-"You...you are stressed due to being trapped, right?"-

Matsukaze took off his hat. -"It isn't just that. I'm also investigating to catch the Mastermind. This may be the greatest case of my career, since it not only has my own life in stake. It also has fourteen more"-

-"You mean fifteen"-

-"No, fourteen. Once I find the fucker that locked us here, I'm making sure that person never gets out alive"-

Akane was surprised to hear the determination in his voice. He may as well be the one who would do absolutely anything to find the truth. -"Any progress?"- she asked.

-"I already have some leads. I'm not telling you anything else, though. You're not in the clear. But I can say this with confidence: I'll find the one responsible for everything in max...seven days. The Mastermind may think he or she is smart, but even the smallest trace can lead to a conclusion"-

-"It would be nice if you socialized, though"- Akane whispered-

Matsukaze put his hat on again. -"I won't be in mood to socialize until I'm out of this hellhole. But after that, I promise we'll talk anything you want, turn into friends, etc"- he smiled -"Now, I think this is a good chance for me to ask you a few questions. Answer them truthfully, please"-

_I spent the next hour being questioned by Matsukaze, for his investigation_

-ooooo-

After Matsukaze decided he had enough information about Akane, the Chemist decided it was time to talk with somebody else.

Akane went for lunch to the cafeteria. There she found Hikasa again, as if he hadn't left the cafeteria in the first place. The Weightlifter was kind enough to bring Akane's lunch ration, which Chiba had prepared before.

-"So, how did your morning go? Were you able to talk with anybody?"-

Akane swallowed her mouthful of food, and replied. -"I did talk with the Detective, but it didn't go as I expected. It was like being interrogated by the Interpol"-

Hikasa laughed. -"That is how it is. He is more of a brain type, while others, like me, are more of the brawn type"-

-"And what did you do while I was away?"-

-"Matsukaze asked me to check if I could break the shutters that block that other stairway. The only thing I accomplished was pulling a muscle"- Akane just noticed that he was pressing a rag with ice on his arm.

-"Oh...I hope you're not in pain..."-

-"Not anymore. But still, this depressed me'- he said. Akane raised her eyebrows, and asked why. Hikasa threw the rag on the table.

-"People are wanting me to do stuff because of my strength, but I have failed. I didn't even dent the exit of this shelter, and I hurt myself while trying to open those shutters. People had expectations, and I didn't reach them. I think...I think I'm afraid of being treated as an useless person because I'm not strong enough. I'm not smart, or charismatic. Physical strength is all I have"-

Akane mulled over what Hikasa said, and chose her words. -"Being strong isn't your only trait. Look at how you have treated me this morning. I can see you're gentle and considerate, and there will always be people who will appreciate it. Being strong isn't everything for you"-

Hikasa smiled. Akane could see that he was feeling better now. -"Thank you, Ogata-kun. Now, come with me. You got away with not doing the dishes this morning, and you won't get away with it again"- he said teasingly. Akane smiled, and followed him.

_I spent some time washing the dishes with Hikasa._

_-ooooo-_

Akane spent the rest of the day in her room, worried of what could come. There wasn't much to do in the shelter, so being bored was too easy for her.

The next day arrived slowly. Akane would have never known if it was day or not, if it weren't because of her clock. She woke up earlier that day, so it wasn't a complete waste now.

_Who will I talk with today…_

Most of the graduates were in the cafeteria, having breakfast. Some of them waved at her, happy to see her, while the most aloof focused on their food. Akane entered the kitchen. Chiba was cutting what seemed to be meat.

-"Good morning, Ogata. You finally came for breakfast at a reasonable hour"- she said without looking at her. Akane held her urge to roll her eyes and replied with a greeting as well. –"I suppose you have already been informed about the rations matter"- Chiba said.

-"Hikasa-san told me something about that. Why are you doing it?"-

Chiba left the knife, and put the pieces of meat on the pans. –"If we want to survive for as long as we can, then we'll need to make some sacrifices. This group needs order, and as the leader, I have to put these policies on everybody"-

Akane started to help Chiba with the cooking. As a Chemist, cooking always seemed interesting for her. –"I suppose you learned about that in the army"-

-"I was never really in the army, but I do have worked with them. Most of their policies are very effective, Ogata"-

-"And do you see all of us as your subordinates?"- Akane asked. Chiba thought for a moment.

-"It is…complicated. This time I'm not safe away of the battlefield, while other people follow my orders. Now I'm in the battlefield itself, along with everybody else. I'd say you're all more like my…comrades"-

_Not that it'll stop you from being the boss_

Chiba continued talking -"Matsukaze told me stuff about you, Ogata. I have been thinking to turn somebody into the second in charge here, and I think you'd be a good assistant for me. Would you like to accept the job?"-

Akane was surprised to hear that. –"Do you really think I should do it?"-

-"Yes. You're smart and have the quality of thinking before acting. Those are some of the characteristics a Strategist needs, and you have them. What do you say?"-

The Chemist smiled. –"I accept"- Chiba smiled as well, and talked with a less serious tone.

-"Alright, do military salutes. Like this. No, put your hand lower. Now, you have been promoted to Lieutenant Ogata. Congratulations!"-

Akane lowered her arm, laughing. Chiba was a really nice person. –"So, your duties include aiding me whenever you're needed, and taking over the leadership of the group if I ever…you know…die"- Chiba lowered her voice. She was visibly afraid of the idea of dying, but she quickly left the fear behind. –"But I'll need some commitment from you. No more sleeping until noon, Ogata"-

Akane gritted her teeth. _Oversleep once and nobody ever lets you live it down_

-"Now that we left it aside, let's go with the first point in our agenda, Ogata. The morale of our team is high in these moments, but someday it may be prone to fall. We need ideas to counter that, if it ever happens. Any ideas?"-

_I spent time discussing plans with Chiba_

-ooooo-

The rest of the morning went through without any problems. Leaving aside the fact that they were trapped, Akane was really enjoying the company. It was nice to interact with people who weren't lurking in the corners, ready to mug her. She was even able to leave behind the fear of being killed by any of them.

At least, until noon.

An old speaker screeched over their heads.

-"Mic test, mic test! Can you all hear me?"- Monobear talked through the speaker –"Everybody please reunite at the conference room. It is time to give you all a little incentive!"-

-"A little incentive?"- Yamaguchi whispered. Hikasa nodded. –"Whatever it is, it can't be good"-

Everybody reluctantly went to the conference room, dreading what Monobear could have for them. It was clear that the calmness before the storm was over.


	4. Chapter 1 - (Ab)normal Days II

The conference room hadn't changed at all from the day they had been reunited there for the first time, at least for the most part. The same chairs, the same podium, and the same bear behind it, but there was something new. There was a curious contraption behind Monobear now, a huge round thing, filled with plastic balls. It reminded Akane of those machines used for bingo games.

-"Sit down, everybody! It is time to have some fun"- Monobear was cheerful. Nobody else shared his enthusiasm. The bear started to give every graduate a bingo card. Akane examined hers. There were nine squares on it.

_What the hell is this…_

Each square had what seemed to be crippling problems. _Blind. Mute. Deaf. No Arms. Paralyzed _The Chemist stopped reading it, and shook her head. Other people were gasping.

-"What kind of sick joke is this?!"- Reiji shouted, throwing his card to the floor. Monobear picked it up and put it on Reiji's lap again.

-"It's a side project, while we wait for everything to end. How did I think this brilliant idea? I was there, minding my own business, when I realized I'd be pretty bored if I were to wait everybody to die of starvation, especially if nobody had the guts to murder. And I'm sure some of you would feel the same!

So I decided to play a game with you assholes, something so everybody can have fun. I have called it "Hope's Peak's Bingo Extravaganza"!

If nobody has been murdered after 24 hours, counting from now, I'll start crippling all of you, through a random method. One each day, until a murder happens."-

-"That is it. Hey you, Stuntsman. I'll pay you big bucks if you crush the bear and make it look like an accident"- Miyata said, aloud enough for Monobear to listen. The bear didn't say a word; he just glared at the CEO before continuing.

-"You fill a square if the disability is chosen and inflicted on a graduate. The first one to complete the board will earn a prize, which I'll have to think later!"-

-"You…you wouldn't dare to do it. How can you think of such cruel things?"- Kudo spoke softly, clearly being more worried for the Mastermind's mental health than anything else.

-"Oh, it wasn't easy. You bastards have so few things left in your lives that it took me a good time to think of a good incentive for all of you. I didn't go through all the work of making you all come, if it didn't mean having the chance of seeing you all fall into despair. Think about it: a disability, which would mean you may not be able to use your talent anymore…"-

-"I-I'm not going to stay here listening to that monster. Let's go, Yukio"- Reiji pulled his brother's arm until they reached the doors, which opened easily. When everybody saw that they could get out of the conference room, all of them ran outside.

-"Yukio, brother, what will I do? I don't want anything of that to happen to me. There must be a way to deal with this, a loophole, something! Think, Yukio!"-

-"I retract: there isn't anything cool about that bear"- Sakurai said, again pale. He leaned against the wall, while he tried to regain his breath –"He is a monster. Whoever is controlling the bear is a monster. Crippling all of us? Unbelievable!"-

-"Not to mention insensitive. He is treating disabilities as if they were something to make fun of. Morals dictate that…"- Kudo had started talking, but Chiba yelled at him.

-"You're the only one here who cares about the fucking morals! Our physical integrity is in risk, and unless somebody dies, we're all doomed"-

-"By the way, why did he let us out early? To me it seemed like he had more things to say"- Kudo spoke again.

Sawashiro was the only one who was calmed, as her own words showed -"Because what he wanted is now done. I see his intentions clear as day: he made a huge show on purpose. He is trying to scare us and coax at least one of us to do something horrible. Look at your reactions! He had success"-

-"Are you insinuating that he may not really do what he threatened to do?"- Toyogushi was clearly looking for something to calm him down, didn't matter what it was. Sawashiro nodded.

-"I think that he'll only cripple one or two of us before he realizes that nobody is going to kill. We need to stay strong. Trust me, people"-

At least half of the graduates calmed down, even if it was because they hoped that Sawashiro was right and they had much less chances of being crippled. The other half, however, was less than calmed.

-"I'm not going to take any chances. Come, Yukio. Bring all the food you can, we're going to lock ourselves in our bedrooms"- both lawyers went towards the cafeteria, with Chiba following them.

Everybody started to leave towards different places. In order to distract herself, Akane chose to go to her bedroom and started to do chores. Cleaning her bedroom, putting her clothes to be washed, getting rid of the dust in the desk drawers, and several other similar actions. As much as she hated to admit it, she was very afraid. Monobear had brought out the most ridiculous and fearsome motive as the first incentive. She was sure that sooner or later other motives would happen, but she doubted she'd keep her sanity after knowing that one of her potential friends would be mutilated by Monobear.

She tried to forget about the motive, but it stayed in her mind. She looked at her watch. Several hours had passed since Monobear had told them the incentive. She needed some fresh air, well, as fresh as it could be inside the shelter.

The Chemist exited her bedroom, and heard voices from the cafeteria. Curiosity got the better of her, so she started approaching the voices. She stopped near the door and slowly leaned in to see what was going on.

There was a group of people in the cafeteria. Sawashiro was directing them to move candles, jars of salt, leaves, and a myriad of other stuff. She ordered everything to be put in certain positions. Akane noticed that the salt was forming circles with curious runes.

-"What is going on in here?"- she didn't resist asking.

-"Hi Ogata-kun. We're organizing a session"- Sawashiro replied, approaching Ogata. –"As much as I hate to admit it, I don't feel as calmed as I implied I was. I need assurance"-

-"So, your way to get assurance is to contact the dead?"- Sawashiro nodded. –"I think I got lost in your logic, or your lack of it"-

-"The dead are more reliable than the alive, Ogata-kun. I trust them blindly, even if they can be annoyingly cryptic"-

Akane gave up on her attempts to understand the logic, and merely accepted Sawashiro's intentions. –"Can I watch?"-

-"Sure, join us. Bring me a notepad and a pen, please"-

Ten minutes later, everything was ready for the session. Besides Akane, there were other four graduates as well, which were Yamaguchi, Kudo, Matsukaze and Sakurai. All of them had a lot of curiosity about Sawashiro and her medium abilities, and now it was their chance to see with their own eyes what exactly was going to happen.

-"Sit outside that circle, and be quiet. I need absolute silence. This is how I'll proceed: due to the limited quality of the setting around us, I'll have a very limited time to contact the spirits from beyond. Three questions should be good enough. Understood so far?"- everyone nodded, eager to see Sawashiro doing it.

The medium sat in middle of the smallest circle, and started to mumble with her eyes closed. Akane couldn't understand a thing of what she was saying, but the mystical aura Sawashiro had was getting stronger by the second.

_This is surreal, _Akane thought when Sawashiro started to write on the notepad, still with her eyes closed. She had stopped mumbling, but it seemed like she was in a trance. After a while, she finally opened her eyes. She was obviously tired.

-"I'm fairly skeptical about all of this. I expected more…flare"- Matsukaze said, while standing up –"What did you write there?"-

-"I wrote the three questions that I wanted to see answered. If anything else was written, it wasn't me…you know what I mean"-

-"Come on, read what it says!"- Akane hurried. Sawashiro opened the notepad. She frowned.

-"Once again, they got all cryptic. Wonderful"-

The rest continued asking Sawashiro to reveal what was written by the 'spirits from beyond'. The Medium from Osaka finally complied.

-""How can we stop Monobear's current plan from happening?" That was the first question I wrote. Check this answer: "Don't leave your personal belongings outside your bedroom"-

-"What's that supposed to mean?"- Kudo asked, baffled. Sawashiro shrugged.

-"Beats me. Let's see the second question. "Who should I be wary of?" Here it says "Be wary of that one that pretends to be your friend but only seeks your downfall". That fits almost half of the people in the shelter"-

Akane noticed that Matsukaze was looking at her suspiciously. She avoided his eyes, and waited for Sawashiro to tell the last question.

-"The last one is more direct, we're in luck. That was sarcasm, by the way. "How can one be sure to live longer?" The answer is "Let the black king help you"-

-"Sawashiro, dear, I don't mean to offend you, but your methods are a huge waste of time"- Sakurai said. He had started to pick up the candles. Clearly his interest had dwindled down to near zero.

-"No offense taken. I had never been in such a bad session…maybe I'm too stressed to interpret these messages right"-

-"Then there is nothing else to do than forgetting about this. Yamaguchi, dear, will you help me to clean everything?"- Sakurai was looking at the fashion designer in a very flirty way. She grimaced.

-"I need to go to sleep, I think I have a migraine"- she then sped out of the room, leaving Sakurai saddened.

-"Alright…who'll help me to clean?"-

They weren't really eager to clean, after the fiasco the session had ended to be. They all did something small here and there, but at the first chance, one would leave the cafeteria. Soon Sakurai was left alone in there.

Akane stayed awake for a good while, thinking. She had hoped the session would bring something useful, so she was disappointed. _Don't blame Sawashiro-san…it isn't her fault. The dead are cryptic, that is all_

The only one that seemed to be clear was the first one. 'Don't leave your personal belongings outside your bedroom'. It was easy enough to follow, from now on; she would make sure that nothing that belonged to her would be forgotten.

Her dreams were pretty uneasy. The anxiety of what could come in twelve hours created nightmares. She dreamed every option in the bingo card. The next morning, she woke up drenched in sweat. She felt unrested, and wished she could just stay there and sleep until everything was over, but ignoring the situation wouldn't help her.

It was still early. She went to the lounge, where she found Sawashiro, Ginchiyo and Hikasa. They were visibly affected by the tension. In six hours, anybody would receive Monobear's punishment.

-"It is horrible to think that I may be blind soon. Should have watched your movie, Ginchiyo. I'm sure it would have been an experience…"- Hikasa said grimly. The Film Maker grabbed The Weightlifter's hands, in an attempt to comfort him.

-"If by any chance we get out of here, I'll personally give you a copy of a DVD"-

-"There must be something we can do to avoid this"- Sawashiro was trembling. Her calmness from last day was gone.

Akane left the lounge silently, not wanting to interrupt what seemed like a private reunion of friends. The Chemist needed to talk with somebody, anybody, she needed to calm down. She had a really bad feeling about what was going to come later.

She stopped in front of one of the bedroom doors, and looked up to see who it belonged too. It was Reiji's bedroom. She knocked the door, hoping that the Law Master would have time to talk with her.

The door opened a few millimeters. –"Who is it?"-

-"It's me, Akane Ogata"-

The door fully opened, revealing Reiji's actual appearance. He was pretty disheveled, as if he were suffering a grave case of the cabin fever. His behavior was flat out hostile. –"What do you want?"-

-"I just…"- Akane didn't have any will now to talk with him. He clearly was still paranoid. Akane wondered if he had stored food under his bed or something –"…was going to see if you wanted to talk about anything"-

-"…go away"- and he slammed the door. Akane sighed and walked to the door directly to the side. When she was about to knock that door, Reiji opened his door again. –"If anything happens to my brother, I'll make sure everybody knows it was you"- then he closed the door again, without waiting for a reply. Akane raised her eyebrows, not sure what to think of Reiji's threat. It isn't like she had a switchblade, ready to stab Yukio in the chest, so the warning was unexpected.

Akane knocked on the door, and soon Yukio opened it. His appearance was much tidier than his brother's, and his demeanor was much friendlier as well. –"Good morning, Ogata-kun"-

-"I was wondering if you wanted to talk. I feel a bit uneasy"-

-"Monobear's fault, eh? Sure, come in"-

Yukio's room was decorated with clear references to justice. A big statue of Athena was in the corner, and there were several books on the desk. –"Curious, eh? Whoever put us in this shelter at least knew the basics. All this stuff was already here"-

-"These are some pretty complicated books"- Akane commented, picking a random book from the desk. It was filled with a lot of law matters she had no idea about.

-"Well, I'm good at what I do. Reading that is like reading mere fairytales for me"-

-"You do talk like you know what you do. Does it bother you to be the Assistant instead of the Master?"- As soon as she asked that, Akane regretted speaking. A dark cloud had covered Yukio's eyes.

-"It doesn't really bother me. Reiji…he is the Master for a reason, you know. What bothers me is that some people think that I'm lesser than him, because I'm the Assistant. Nothing farther from the truth"-Yukio was talking with a lot of conviction, as if he needed to convince himself that he was a good lawyer.

_I better not say that I did think that as well_

-"Did you like your time in Hope's Peak?"-

Yukio didn't answer. He stared at the Athena statue, without saying a word for a while, until he finally spoke again. –"It was fine. Nothing too remarkable. I'm sorry, Ogata-kun. It is just that I feel uncomfortable talking about my brother's title"-

-"I'm sorry I brought the topic…"-

-"No, it is okay. Who knows, Ogata-kun. Maybe someday we'll be able to talk about it without making me feel like this. Meanwhile, why don't you tell me about yourself? I'm sure there are many things you have to tell me"-

Yukio sat on his desk chair, and invited Akane to sit on his bed.

_I talked with Yukio about me and my life, for a long while_

-ooooo-

Akane and Yukio were still talking, when the Assistant noticed what time it was. –"It is time, Ogata-kun. Noon"-

-"Why don't we stay in our bedrooms? I don't want to see anybody being crippled…"- Akane said. Yukio shrugged.

-"I think that Monobear would come for us and drag us to see that. We shouldn't make him angry. Let's go"-

Akane and Yukio walked towards the conference room. The Chemist was wishing the time would stop, she was terrified. What if luck dictated she would be the one who would get crippled? And what would the bear do to her? She struggled to contain her tears of fear, and entered the conference room.

Most of the graduates were in there. Monobear was on the stage, making the round bingo contraption spin. The clatter of the balls filled the room. Akane took a deep breath and sat as far as she could from the stage.

-"I didn't expect anybody to really come in time. Are you all anxious to see crippling? Or were you all anxious to see me?"-

-"J-J-J-Just…let's get over this"-Yukio said aloud, although he couldn't avoid stuttering. Everybody watched, holding their breath, as Monobear spun the contraption. He finally stopped, and grabbed a random ball. He held it, and let the suspense hang on the air for a few seconds. Then he shouted a name.

-"YUKIO OHMOTO!"-

The Law Assistant almost fainted when his name was mentioned. He walked to the stage, trying to calm himself down, but it was obvious he was suffering in the inside. Monobear looked at the poor graduate, clearly enjoying his despair.

-"Do you know why I called you here?"- Yukio closed his eyes –"You're here to…scratch my back. I can't reach the itch"-

-"Whaaaaat?"- Yukio couldn't avoid wailing in surprise. Monobear laughed.

-"You look like you saw a ghost! You should close your mouth before any flies get into it"-

-"Stop th-that! Just…please, let's get done with this…cripple me"- Yukio closed his eyes and extended his hands as if he expected Monobear to chop them off.

-"And why would I do that?"- the bear replied. He looked at the audience of the conference room. All of them were watching expectantly, with varying degrees of fear. –"Ah, I see. We have a misunderstanding in our paws. There won't be any crippling!"- Everybody looked at Monobear, wanting an explanation. –"Let's get out of here, bastards. There is nothing else to say"-

The bear made everybody leave the conference room. The graduates were clueless about what just had happened.

-"Could it be that he got a change of heart?"- Sawashiro said. She was calm again.

-"If it had been a change of heart, then we would all be outside. No, it must be anything else…"- Ginchiyo interjected.

-"It doesn't take a genius to see what happened"- Toriumi said coldly –"Somebody died. One of us committed murder"-

Toyoguchi shuddered. –"Alright, who isn't here? Please, let's orderly…"- The Stuntsman was interrupted when Yukio ran away to the bedrooms. He started pounding on the door, desperate.

-"Brother! Reiji! Please, open the door!"-

The Law Master opened the door. –"What's up with this scand…Yukio?"- the Assistant had hugged his brother. –"What's going on?"-

-"Reiji is okay, guys!"- Hikasa had arrived, and shouted. Akane, Ginchiyo, Matsukaze, Chiba and Curtis approached. –"The rest of us split to search in the rest of the bunker. There is one person more missing…"-and after saying those words, Hikasa approached Saitou's bedroom door. –"Saitou! Are you okay? Please, open the door!"-

Nobody answered.

-"Maybe he is in some other place of the bunker. We should wait for the rest to inform us"- Chiba said.

-"Monobear! Come here!"- Reiji had left his room, and was now calling the bear. Soon Monobear arrived the scene.

-"Did you call?"-

-"Can you open the door for us, please? We need to check something inside Saitou's room"-

-"And why should I do that?"-

-"Do it!"-

-"Okay, no need to be bossy"- the bear inserted a claw into the ID contraption. The door unlocked. Matsukaze entered the room first, and came out almost instantly.

-"It happened. He is dead"- and he opened the door so everybody could see.

Laying slumped at the other side of the bedroom, covered with a white cloth, one could see who in life was Hoshio Saitou. He had his head covered in blood, and it also had stained his clothes.

The silence was soon interrupted by Monobear. –"A body has been discovered! After a short period of investigation, we'll start the Trial! But before that, I'll need to explain something to all of you. To the conference room, once again!"

Curtis and Yukio went to tell the others what happened, and Akane and the rest of the group went to the conference room. The Chemist was deep in thought

_Saitou was killed…one of us sixteen killed him. But…Trial? What? What is Monobear planning now?_


	5. Chapter 1 - Abnormal Days

The bingo contraption was gone. The pódium was back in its place, and Monobear was behind it once again. Nobody sat down; they all stayed near the doors. It was glaringly obvious nobody wanted to be there.

-"I'm happy to announce that one of you finally killed somebody! But if the culprit expected to be going out by now, then I'll gladly announce two words: "How naïve!" This is only the first part of the game. Now this is where all of you play your part.

You'll have a limited amount of time to investigate and gather any type of evidence you think could point to a culprit. After playing detectives, then the best part of the Graduate Meeting of Mutual Killing will take place: the trial! A match where the innocent try to find the culprit.

If the culprit is found and voted guilty, then that person alone will be punished. However, if an innocent graduate is marked as the culprit, the real killer will be free and released to the outside"

-"Punishment? What will it be, exactly?"- Hikasa asked.

-"What are the stakes? Why, it won't be much. Just death"-

-"Are you saying that at the end of a trial there will be executions?!"- Toyogushi shouted. He was twitching, surely wanting to start investigating now.

-"That is correct! The number of executions depends on the result of the trial. It'd be tragic if you made a mistake and condemned yourselves to death, wouldn't it? So you better try your best to catch the culprit.

And with that, I'll leave you people free to investigate, but before that, have the first piece of your puzzle!"- Everybody's ID cards beeped. Akane took it out, and examined what had arrived. _Monobear file?_ She opened the file, and read its content. It was all very basic, but beggars can't be choosers.

**Monobear File #1**

_Victim's name: Hoshio Saitou_

_Cause of death: Blunt object trauma_

_Time of death: 11:00 PM_

_Location of body: Hoshio Saitou's bedroom_

-"See you all in the Trial!"- Monobear once again vanished from sight.

-"Death for guessing incorrectly…luckily for all of us, we have a SHSL Detective right there"- Sakurai pointed at Matsukaze. The Detective stood straight, and authoritatively said he would ensure that the real culprit would be revealed, but Sakurai had thought of another possibility. –"But what if you're the one who killed Saitou? Then we'd all fall to our dooms because we trusted you!"-

-"Really, Sakurai-kun? If that is bothering you this much, then go and watch over my shoulder while I work. However…"- now Matsukaze was talking to everybody –"…don't leave the work only for me. We all need to cooperate if we want to find the killer. Now, let's go to the crime scene"-

Not everybody followed Matsukaze back to Saitou's bedroom. Others went their own ways, to do who knows what.

The door to Saitou's bedroom was still fully opened. People entered slowly, as if they didn't want to disturb Saitou, but the Detective told them to stay out ("You may step over the clues. Watch your step"), and picked two other graduates to start the investigation. Matsukaze, Sakurai and Kudo approached the corpse.

Akane couldn't see very well what they were doing, but Matsukaze moved naturally. He clearly knew what he was doing, and was considerate enough to inform aloud his findings.

-"…this man was bludgeoned to death, just like the bear's file said. I see…four blunt marks on his scalp, all of them in the frontal area. Around five centimeters of diameter…They have a crescent shape, don't you think, Kudo-kun?"-

-"I don't really see anything here that could have caused those wounds"- Kudo looked around the room –"But there is a mess in here. Look at all these trinkets strewn around…signs of a struggle?"-

Matsukaze acknowledged the possibility.

**Signs of a Struggle (?)**

_There's such a mess in the bedroom that it is possible there was a struggle_

During the next minutes, the three graduates dealt with the body, until they decided there was nothing else to see on it. From the door, Curtis raised his voice. –"Are there any clues that could point towards the culprit?"-

-"Oh yes. And I'd say it is pretty good, in my opinion"- Sakurai lifted the white cloth and held it open, so everybody could see what it was. Akane froze where she was, as she was wearing in that very moment an exact copy of the cloth. It was one of her lab coats. –"There are dry blood droplets, see? It is obvious this was pretty close to Saitou when the culprit hit him. Am I right, Ogata, dear?"-

-"H-How do you expect me to know?"- Akane said defensively. Sakurai approached.

-"Then let me make a supposition. You hit Saitou with whatever weapon you used, and the blood stained your lab coat. Then you left it on the body's lap…"-

-"And why would I leave such thing on the body, especially if I'm the only one it could be related?"-

Sakurai didn't find any words to continue the discussion. Matsukaze took that as a chance to intervene. –"Don't make hasty conclusions, Sakurai-kun. Save your accusations for the trial, and wait until you find more evidence"-

**Lab Coat**

_A long, white lab coat, with several blood droplets on it. It was found on Saitou's lap, as if it had been put there haphazardly. Belongs to Akane Ogata_

-"But I think she shouldn't be allowed to enter this room. She is the main suspect, after all"- Sakurai muttered. Akane was about to counter again, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

-"Don't worry, Ogata-kun. I'll convince him to let you in. Meanwhile check other places, if you want to"- Curtis said, and without giving Akane time to reply, started to argue with Sakurai. The Chemist stepped aside.

_My lab coat? Why my lab coat? How…ooooh…_

She started to run towards the Laundry Room. As soon as she got there, she opened the washer she had used the day before. It still had some of her clothes, but she still could see that one of the lab coats she had put in there was gone. Without a doubt, it was the one found on the body.

-"How could I forget I left all these clothes here?"- she said aloud, frustrated.

-"You have always been ridiculously absent-minded, Akane-kun. This is no surprise for me"- Akane turned around and saw Toriumi entering the Laundry Room. The Tutor had followed the Chemist.

-"I have no time for your insults"- Akane said, putting back the clothes in the washer.

-"I didn't come to insult you. You're the only person I more or less like here, Akane-kun, and as such, I have come to talk to you. Look at my eyes and tell me: did you kill Saitou?"-

Akane looked at Toriumi's eyes. –"Of course not!"-

-"I don't really have many options besides trusting the Akane I know. Let me help you, okay?"- Toriumi pushed her glasses so they didn't fall. –"Have you ever taken part of a murder investigation?"-

-"No…"-

-"I know some pointers that could be useful. Let's investigate together, and follow my example, alright?"- Toriumi led Akane out of the Laundry Room, and towards the bedroom hall.

Curtis was about to walk downstairs, when Akane and Toriumi came back. –"There you are, Ogata-kun. I convinced him to let you in"-

Akane muttered a thank you, and was about to enter when Toriumi yanked her arm. –"Woah, woah, woah. Where do you think you're going, Akechi Kogoro?"-

-"To check the crime scene. Let me go!"-

-"Poor young grasshopper, such a long road to walk and so little time for it. Listen. It'd be good if you talked with people if they give you the chance, instead of jumping straight into the scene. Any information can be useful in an investigation"-

-"How am I supposed to know who can tell me something good?"-

-"You can't, so you better choose wisely, but you can't just ignore people. Curtis-san was kind enough to help you; I'd say talking to him could be productive"-

Akane sighed. –"Alright. Just let go my arm. Hey, Curtis-san!"-

The painter turned around. Akane ran to him. –"I was wondering, why did you argue with Sakurai to let me enter?"-

-"Ah, it is because just a lab coat isn't enough evidence to think you're the culprit. Besides, I doubt you'd leave it there, if you had killed him, and if you add the victim's actions to the mix, then that coat turns into a very flimsy piece of evidence"-

Part of Curtis' words piqued Akane's curiosity. –"The victim's actions? What do you mean, exactly?"-

The painter thought for a moment. –"Maybe I'm wrong, but last night, around 7:00 PM, I saw Saitou-kun exit the Laundry Room with a heap of clothes. I think your lab coat was in there, I did see a long white sleeve. Saitou doesn't have any white shirts with long sleeves, right?"-

-"No idea, but why would Saitou take one of my coats?"-

Curtis shrugged. Akane tried to get some other information, but nothing productive was obtained.

**Curtis' Testimony**

_Last night, a few hours before the murder, Saitou stole one of Akane's lab coats_

Once Curtis left, Toriumi spoke again. –"See, Akane-kun? If you hadn't talked to him, chances are that you wouldn't have ever heard about it…although I do think he may have planned to say it in the trial"-

-"Okay, Toriumi-sensei. I get it, you know more than me, etc. Can we go to the crime scene now?"-

Now Toriumi approved entering to Saitou's bedroom. There were a few graduates in the main room, examining different parts of it. _Where should I start? There are so many places where there could be potential clues…_

Toriumi went straight to Saitou's closet, and opened it. –"I don't see any white shirts with long sleeves. I'd say it is safe to say that he did take the lab coat"-

-"I didn't have any doubt of that"-

-"Evidence is the most important tool you have. Always verify the information you receive, if possible"- Toriumi said. Akane could see that she was really enjoying educating Akane about this.

Akane examined what was on Saitou's desk, where Yukio was rummaging through the drawers. There were several odd objects, ranging from collectible objects, to junk Akane had no idea could be sold. –"It is an interesting group of objects, right? Saitou-san tried to sell me some of those things"- Yukio commented.

-"Must have been very annoying"-

-"You have no idea. He kept saying something along the lines of "But you're such a good lawyer, Ohmoto-kun. Surely somebody with as much class as you can see how useful this novelty megaphone can be!""-

Akane smiled. Those definitely were Saitou's selling methods. –"Ah, leaving his asskissing aside, I don't see anything here that could have caused his wounds. Got any luck?"-

-"No. Just…newspapers, black sticky tape, more novelty trash, and dust. Nothing that could have been used"-

**Desk Drawers Content**

_Just a lot of newspaper, a roll of black tape and several novelty items. Nothing worthwhile_

Akane nodded, and crouched to see under the bed. There she found something that actually gave her a few ideas. –"Toriumi-san, take a look at this"- Akane pulled out a strange object. It seemed to be a giant chess piece, made of stone. It represented a white king. Toriumi took it. –"Akane-kun, are you thinking the same I'm thinking?"-

-"This must have been the weapon"-

-"Yes, that must be. But this isn't the first time I see this thing. Here, let me show you"- Akane passed Toriumi the giant chess piece. –"Saitou tried to sell me this thing. Want to know why only a SHSL Salesman could try to sell this? Because it is crap. Look"-

Toriumi twisted the cross at the top of the king, and a blade sprouted from the bottom of the chess piece. –"It is a switchblade inside a huge decorative stone king. It is stupid even in theory. I have heard there is a whole set of giant stone chess pieces, but only the kings have blades"-

-"Wow…"- that was everything Akane could say in that moment. Toriumi examined every inch of the chess piece, including the blade.

-"I see no traces of blood at all on this thing. Maybe we're wrong and this isn't the weapon but…hey, Matsukaze-san!"- She approached the Detective. –"Could you check if this abomination fits the wounds, please?"-

The Detective took the chess piece. –"Meanwhile, let's check other stuff, Akane-kun"-

Akane looked around, and saw an ID on the floor, at the other side of the room, near the contraption to enter the bathroom. She picked it up and turned it on. It belonged to Saitou. –"You better leave that where it was, Ogata. I was drawing a map of where everything was"-

-"Oh, sorry. Didn't know…but why is it so far from the body?"-

Matsukaze didn't turn around; he kept working with the chess piece and Saitou's head. –"We found it there. Ginchiyo used It to open the bathroom, but that is where we found it"-

**Saitou's ID**

_Found far from the body, near the ID slot to access the bathroom._

-"Okay, Toriumi-kun. I compared this, and I can affirm that this is a perfect match, I'm sure of it. But…this is too clean, don't you think?"- He passed it back to Toriumi.

**White Stone King Switchblade**

_A ridiculous chess piece, with a switchblade inside. It matches the weapon used to kill Saitou, but it is too clean. Did the culprit clean it?_

Akane and Toriumi entered the bathroom. Miyata and Ginchiyo were in there. Ginchiyo seemed to be deep in thought.

-"What's the matter, Ginchiyo?"- Toriumi asked. The Film Maker took a moment before replying.

-"I'm just thinking about possible culprits…so, Miyata-kun explained me how the bathroom lock mechanism works. Miyata-kun, would you please tell them?"-

Miyata turned around. –"Hi Ogata, Toriumi. As I told you I would, Ogata, I found out more about the bathrooms.

Basically, when somebody inserts the ID and opens the door, the bathroom door opposite to the one opened is shut down with a lock, which is a steel bar that goes into this hole above the latch, when locked. Once one goes back to the bedroom and the bathroom door is closed, then the person who owns the other bedroom will be able to enter. It is very simple, isn't it?"-

-"It sounds easy to override. Just block the door with something so it doesn't close"-

Miyata laughed condescendingly. –"Of course it isn't easy. If the door stays open, then nobody else can access the bathroom. If you examine the mechanism of the door knob mechanism, you'll see that there is some sort of sensor in the latch. The door NEEDS to be closed.

This is all specially designed to make sure only one bathroom door is open at any time"-

**Bathroom Doors Mechanism**

_When entering the bathroom, the opposite door will lock itself. Only one bathroom door can be open at any point._

-"That is dandy, sure, but who do you have in mind, Ginchiyo?"-

-"Okay, last night I was worried that somebody would try to kill, so I thought it'd be good if I did some sort of mechanism to know if anybody went out of their rooms during the night. So I tied a thin nylon string in front of each door, at a certain height, ensuring that it were impossible to enter or exit a bedroom without noticing it"-

-"If anybody came out they would have noticed the string and they would get rid of it, right?"- Akane guessed.

-"Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind. So this morning I woke up as early as I could and checked the strings. Most were intact, but I wrote here which doors didn't have the strings anymore.

**Ginchiyo's Testimony**

_Yamaguchi, Sakurai, Matsukaze, Sawashiro, Saitou and Kudo possibly left their rooms during the night._

-"It's far from being infallible, but I think it was good enough, as I set the strings around one hour before the murder, and checked them at 4:00 AM. What I don't really like is that I don't see any motive for any of those five to kill Saitou…"- she mused

-"Wasn't the threat of being crippled enough motive? I'd have killed for that"- Toriumi said coldly.

-"Just curiosity…who owns the bedroom at the other side of that door?"- Akane asked.

-"It belongs to Sawashiro. She let us check her bedroom and we didn't see anything odd"- Miyata replied.

Akane was about to leave the bathroom, when she was the trash can. She peeked inside. It was completely empty, save for a piece of black tape. _Should I remember this? Well, why not?_

**Piece of Black Tape**

_Found in the trashcan in the shared bathroom_

It didn't seem like there was anything else to check inside Saitou's bedroom. Akane was tired, so they went to the cafeteria to relax for a moment. When they entered, the Chemist stopped to contemplate the mess left last night. That morning during breakfast nobody had commented about it, but it was clear nobody had the will to organize it.

-"Whoever made this mess is really inconsiderate to have left it there"- Toriumi said, frowning. Akane confessed that it was several people's work, and told Toriumi everything about the medium session from last night. The Tutor listened with attention, although her expression didn't hint that she was entirely convinced by it. Her following words contradicted her expression, though.

-"Interesting…this could enlighten some points…"-

-"What? Did you notice anything?"-

-"First than all, you mentioned the dead people's words. Leaving aside the fact that they're words uttered by dead people, they do seem related to this crime. Unless those souls are psychic, I'd say that at the moment of the session the culprit had already planned the murder"- Toriumi explained.

-"But how do them relate to the…"- Akane started, but Toriumi put a finger on her lips.

-"Quiet. Now, first: 'Don't leave your belongings out', or whatever you said. Tell me, is it likely that your coat would be in the crime scene if you hadn't been silly, leaving your laundry over there?"-

-"I…I…"- Akane didn't say a thing. She knew that it could have been avoided if she hadn't forgotten her laundry.

-"Second: 'that person who pretends to be your friend'. It may be my imagination, but I'd say it fits Saitou more than anybody else. That guy was always complimenting and trying to get on people's good side. It may be a bit of a stretch, but that is what I think"-

-"Well, I'll have to agree with you on that"- Akane conceded. Toriumi nodded.

-"The last thing is what convinces me that the medium session is related to this murder more than you thought: 'the black king will ensure you live longer'. Now, remember that white stone king? The one with the switchblade? If there is a whole set of decorative chess pieces, then it'd not be farfetched to think there is a _black king_ as well, of the same size and material. What if it was the real crime weapon, and somebody who went to the session got inspired by that third line?"-

-"I don't think there's much chance of it existing…why would Saitou carry around two heavy chess pieces around?"-

-"Remember that Monobear or whoever controls him left some objects in our rooms. It is possible that he left several novelty items inside the Salesman's bedroom, as it is related to his profession. Or maybe Monobear felt like giving potential weapons. Didn't you find one in your bedroom?"- Toriumi continued.

Akane shaked her head. She hadn't found anything that could be used as a weapon.

**Black Stone King Switchblade (?)**

_A potential weapon of the crime, that is, if it exists. Currently missing or nonexistent_

**Medium Session: Lines Received**

_Don't leave your personal belongings outside your bedroom / Be wary of that one that pretends to be your friend but only seeks your downfall / Let the black king help you_

-"Wait, Toriumi-san…I remember something"- Akane had just noticed something –"Ginchiyo…the people she listed as people who possibly came out of their rooms during the night…they're the people who came to the session"-

_Yamaguchi, Kudo, Matsukaze and Sakurai_

-"Good. I'd say that they do are the most likely to be the culprit, but isn't it funny that there are absolutely no clues that point to the culprit?"-

Akane thought of that for a moment. Indeed, of everything found, nothing pointed towards a concrete person. –"How could that be possible?"-

-"It is possible that the culprit tampered with the scene at some point. I find it curious…that Matsukaze, Sakurai and Kudo were the ones to enter the crime scene first. Any of them would have a chance to tamper it"-

Those four names were now going around Akane's mind.

**Medium Session: Assistants**

_Yamaguchi, Kudo, Matsukaze, Sakurai and Akane took part of the medium session of the night before the crime_

-"And everything around here…they all were the ones who put everything ready for the session. Think it could be related?"- Akane said excitedly. Toriumi looked at her disapprovingly.

-"That's stretching the chances too much. How could the preparations for the session be related to the murder?"-

The Chemist was taken aback by the Tutor's glare. –"…I was just saying…"-

_Still…_

**Medium Session: Preparations**

_A whole load of different objects and elements, with the sole purpose of helping Sawashiro in the session. Everything was still around in the morning_

-"I don't think I can really teach you anything else about investigating. I'll now go and prod around to see if I can find anything else. See you at the trial, Akane-kun"- Toriumi pushed her glasses and left. Akane was left with her thoughts. She looked around the cafeteria, the kitchen and the pantry, looking for clues and/or the black chess king. She didn't find anything she hadn't seen before, but there was something odd about the stuff used in the session of last night.

The candles that had been left strewn around the room were now huddled together in a single place, and they also looked like they had been used for longer than the session. Between the candles Akane could see what looked like pieces of tiny burnt cloth.

**Candles**

_A group of candles. They look like they were used for longer than the session. There are small pieces of burnt cloth at the bottom._

Leaving the candles matter aside, Akane thought about where she would hide or get rid of the giant chess piece. The answer was actually obvious, now that she thought of it. _The trash room! _She should check it before Monobear started the Trial.

Akane practically ran until she entered the Trash Room. There were two people already in there.

-"Just when I was about to ask for help. Come, help us!"- Yamaguchi shouted. Toriumi and she had their arms inside the trash compactor, as if they were trying to pull something out. Akane approached, and grabbed whatever they wanted to pull out.

With one last pull, a big sleeping bag emerged from the trash compactor, bringing out a good amount of trash along with it. –"Ugh, what a mess…"-

-"Why were you trying to get this, Yamaguchi-san?"- Akane asked

-"I came here, trying to find any clues that could have been throw into the trash, when I saw a big object. It seemed like it shouldn't be there, so I tried to get it out, but it was stuck. That compactor really does a good job"-

-"Our efforts have paid off…"- Toriumi opened it, and rummaged inside. She opened her eyes really wide, and pulled something from the bag. Akane was ecstatic when she was the object.

-"It's the black king!"-

Effectively, the missing giant chess piece was inside the sleeping bag. Toriumi twisted the top, and the switchblade sprung from it.

-"What's the deal with that thing?"- Yamaguchi asked. Akane explained to Yamaguchi the situation, while Toriumi examined the black king.

-"There was an attempt to clean it, but I can see a few traces of blood. They're clearer in the blade; as if it had never been touched…I have no doubts that this is what crushed Saitou's head"-

**Updated:** **Black Stone King Switchblade**

_Undoubtedly the weapon of the crime. The culprit tried to clean it. Found inside a sleeping bag, in the trash compactor_

-"Wait; there is something else in here!"- Yamaguchi looked inside the sleeping bag, and pulled a second object. It was a handkerchief. It was burnt and covered with soot, and whatever design on it was now unrecognizable. In some parts where the soot didn't cover the cloth, one could see blood.

**Burnt Handkerchief**

_Found inside a sleeping bag, in the trash compactor. There's no way to see the design, except by one corner, where one can see a golden color. Has blood on it._

**Sleeping Bag**

_Found inside the trash compactor. How's it related to the murder besides being used to get rid of evidence?_

The three girls were about to discuss their findings, when Monobear's voice screeched again through the speakers.

-"I'm tired of waiting and seeing you bastards going around in circles. It is time for the trial!"- He said –"Enter the shutters in the lounge and enter the red door you'll find in the hall behind it"-

Akane felt a pang of nervousness. She personally had no idea about who the culprit was, despite having a list of suspects. If they blamed the wrong person…then this may as well be the last moment she'd enter a place.

Nobody spoke while they gathered in the room they found when they entered through the red door. It was some sort of lobby, complete with work out chairs and all. There was a grid blocking the hall at the other side. Akane sat, and mulled over the evidence she had found until now.

-"Akane-kun, keep an eye open. Despite our lack of evidence, it can be possible to catch the culprit, but only if you listen carefully to everybody's words. We'll all make an effort, don't worry. It'll all go okay"- Toriumi had approached, and as soon as she said those words, she went away.

Soon the grid opened, and everybody went through the hall. At the end, they found a round room, with sixteen podiums. Some retched at the sight of Saitou's photo with a huge X, finding it to be tasteless. Monokuma was on a throne, clearly enjoying himself.

-"This is going to be great! Are you all as excited as I am? No need for an answer. Go to the podium marked with your name, and get ready for our first Trial!"-

Akane walked to the podium. Once she was on it, she looked at her sides. Curtis and Sakurai were directly to her sides. They both seemed pretty nervous as well. Everybody else had varying grades of fear. Akane wondered where Toyogushi and Chiba had gone; she had seen neither of them during the investigation. Surely they were busy.

_It's time…Hoshio Saitou, I'm going to help clear the details of your death. I promise it!_


	6. Chapter 1 - Trial I

A note:

In the Nonstop Debate, the bold normal lines are weak yellow points, while the bold italic ones are blue points. Due to Fanfiction's limitations, namely the lack of color in text, it can't be fully done here.

* * *

-"We have all been reunited here to start the trial for Hoshio Saitou's murder. If you're successful and identify correctly the culprit, only that person will be executed. But if you blame it on an innocent graduate, the culprit will leave the shelter and everybody else will be executed. Now, let's start!"-

-"Nobody fret. We'll nail the culprit. Now, where should we start?"- Chiba asked, expecting somebody to take the first step.

-"Maybe we could try to reconstruct what we know about the murder"- Yamaguchi affirmed. Chiba nodded, approving the proposition.

-"Alright, first than all, remember that it happened around 11:00 PM last night, in Saitou's room, bludgeoned to death with a weapon similar to this"- Matsukaze put on his podium the white king. Everybody contemplated at the odd element- 'That's the base. Let's start building over it"-

* * *

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Ginchiyo's Testimony / Candles / Monobear File 1_

YAMAGUCHI: Saitou was attacked in his room...

YAMAGUCHI: ...**Nobody can enter **without him knowing

SAKURAI: It's possible that the culprit...

SAKURAI: ..._**was already inside**_ when he entered!

GINCHIYO: I think that it was a visitor, _**invited by Mr Saitou**_ himself.

TOYOGUSHI: _**Or a surprise visit**_. It may have been unplanned.

CHIBA: The culprit waited until Saitou was careless...

CHIBA: ...and **attacked him when he turned his back around**!

MIYATA: Then the culprit fled from the room, satisfied.

YAMAGUCHI: Eeeh...I don't know about you guys...

YAMAGUCHI: ...but I feel we're not going anywhere.

* * *

Akane listened to their words. There was something that had called her attention, and it didn't take her long before she realized what it was.

-"Chiba-san, I doubt the attack was a surprise for Saitou, much less through the back"-

-"I don't think a frontal attack would be effective"- Chiba crossed her arms.

-"But that is what happened. If you check the file, you should see that all the head wounds are near the front of the head. Saitou-san saw the attack coming"-

-"...oh. Sorry, I didn't really investigate"- she replied sheepishly.

-"We all noticed now, oh fearless leader"- Toriumi said, mocking.

-"Why would the culprit choose Saitou as the victim, though? To me it seems that the culprit was invited by Saitou and took the chance to kill him"-

-"That's why there was a struggle! While they talked or whatever they were doing, the murderer did his move and Saitou resisted"-

-"Okay, guys, this is fun, butacas we should focus on something else. Let's start pointing fingers"- Sakurai said, then, turning to Akane -"You! Dear, you killed Saitou-san!"-

Several of the graduates groaned. -"Tell us you have something more than the lab coat"-

-"We should listen to him, though. Maybe his logic is sound"-

Sakurai beamed with pride. -"Thank you. Now let me say what I think Ogata-chan did!"-

* * *

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Candles / White Stone King Switchblade / Medium Session: Preparations / Medium Session: Lines Received / Monobear File #1_

SAKURAI: Ogata-chan planned everything in advance.

SAKURAI: She chose Saitou because she could attack him...

SAKURAI: ...while **he gushed over her**!

SAKURAI: He let her enter. They fought...

SAKURAI: ...and then **she hit him with the weapon she had brought**.

SAKURAI: With that giant chess piece! She took off her coat...

SAKURAI: ...and left it on the body **for reasons unknown** for us.

SAKURAI: It is all a cunning plan to make her look innocent!

SAWASHIRO: I had expected something better, but eh

SAKURAI: No rebuttal, dear? Then it is a victory for me

* * *

Akane smirked. It hadn't been hard to see a point where she could attack.

-"So you say that I planned everything in advance...right?"-

-"Oooooof course"- Sakurai was pretty smug. _Poor guy, it's time to crush this_

-"Then why didn't I prepare something pretty important? I'm talking about the weapon"-

Sakurai looked confused. -"But that white chess piece is yours...along with the coat and all..."-

-"You're so wrong! Saitou-san was the owner of that thing. It should be safe to assume it was in his bedroom. If I were going to kill somebody, I wouldn't wait until the last moment to pick a weapon!"-

-"And whose word will we trust? Yours? Just because you say it isn't yours doesn't mean it is true"-

-"Then she can help now"- Akane signaled at Toriumi. Sakurai looked at her quizzically.

-"I can confirm that Saitou-san owned those abominations"-

Sakurai had the expression of who had been dispelled a great belief in front of him. She stammered, trying to find something else to say. Toriumi continued talking.

-"Besides, this is the real weapon"- Toriumi had brought the black king in her bag. Everybody looked at the new object, as only three had seen it before.

-"We can safely say that nothing of this was planned. It's clear as day!"- Reiji said, hitting the podium.

Before anybody else could agree or disagree, Toriumi stood up straight and snarled.

**DEFEND YOUR REASONING!**

Reiji backed down of his podium, surprised. -"What...I..."-

-"If you're so sure that the culprit had no intention of killing, Ohmoto, then answer me something: why did it happen? Just for shits and giggles?"-

-"Well...I think that...Yukio, help me..."- Reiji whimpered. Yukio was about to talk when Toriumi glared at him.

-"I asked your brother, not you"-

Cornered, Reiji stayed silent. The atmosphere that had formed, as if Toriumi and Reiji were going to have a swordfight in middle of the trial, defused. The Law Master was in no condition of talking. Then Akane intervened, she had thought of a new possibility.

-"I do agree with Reiji. The culprit didn't enter the room planning to kill Saitou-san"-

Toriumi turned back to Akane, with an expression of contempt. -"You better not back down, Akane-kun"-

**DEFEND YOUR REASONING!**

-"Same question for you: then why did Saitou die?"-

Although Akane felt intimidated by Toriumi's expression, she didn't back off. -"There must be an explanation..."-

-"You talk as if you have no conviction. I'm so going to tear you down"- Toriumi pushed up her glasses, grinning creepily.

* * *

**Rebuttal Showdown**

_Swords: Ginchiyo's Testimony / Piece of Black Tape / Signs of Struggle (?)_

TORIUMI: There was obvious intention to kill

Four blows to the head don't happen by accident!

And the mere fact that the culprit was

In Saitou's bedroom almost at midnight,

Whether invited or not, is enough for me to say that

There were ill intentions present!

OGATA: I do agree that there were ill intentions

But it is possible they didn't come with the visitor!

TORIUMI: Wait, are you insinuating that they came from Saitou-san?

Now you have really done it, Akane-kun!

What would Saitou do

That warrants being killed?

**Nothing hints he did anything!**

* * *

Akane dealt the blow she needed to defeat Toriumi. -"Toriumi-san, what if there was a struggle and it was initiated by Saitou-san?"-

-"Eh?"- The Tutor raised her eyebrows, and asked Akane to continue.

-"I'm saying that it is possible that the one who started the whole murder was Saitou-san himself. He invited somebody and attacked that person. Both struggled, and at the end it was the Salesman the one who was killed"-

-"You can't just go and call Saitou-san a killer because of a struggle"- Hikasa said. Akane shook her head.

-"It isn't just that. There are other details that show Saitou had something odd in mind. Something Saitou did…related to this:"-

* * *

Monobear File #1

Signs of a Struggle (?)

Lab Coat

Curtis' Testimony

Desk Drawers Content

Saitou's ID

White Stone King Switchblade

Bathroom Doors Mechanism

Ginchiyo's Testimony

Piece of Black Tape

Black Stone King Switchblade

Medium Session: Lines Received

Medium Session: Assistants

Medium Session: Preparations

Candles

Burnt Handkerchief

Sleeping Bag

* * *

**Lab Coat**

* * *

-"How many here know why the lab coat was in the crime scene?"- Akane started. Curtis, and Toriumi raised their hands, nobody else moved. –"Saitou took my lab coat from the laundry. Curtis saw him, a few hours before the murder. The reasons for that happening aren't really obvious, and I may be wrong as well"-

-"The visitor felt something was afoot, and attacked Saitou first!"- Yamaguchi hit her hand with her fist, as if she had solved everything.

-"No, I think that Saitou was the one who attacked first. Matsukaze, did you draw what you said you would draw?"-

-"Sure I did"- he took out a large folded piece of paper from his pocket, and extended it. –"I have recorded here the location of everything in the bedroom"-

**Bedroom Map**

_A drawing of Saitou's room. Shows the location of every object found in there_

Akane examined the drawing. It was pretty detailed. She wondered how long it took the Detective to draw it.

-"I suppose that the culprit and Saitou fought beside the desk, here. While they struggled, they knocked on everything that was on the desk, and it fell where we found it. But supposing that Saitou kept everything on the desk, there is an object we found in a different place inside the bedroom, which can't just have fell down with the rest"-

* * *

Monobear File #1

Signs of a Struggle (?)

Lab Coat

Curtis' Testimony

Desk Drawers Content

Saitou's ID

White Stone King Switchblade

Bathroom Doors Mechanism

Ginchiyo's Testimony

Piece of Black Tape

Black Stone King Switchblade

Medium Session: Lines Received

Medium Session: Assistants

Medium Session: Preparations

Candles

Burnt Handkerchief

Sleeping Bag

Bedroom Map

* * *

**White Stone King Switchblade**

* * *

The Chemist was feeling very confident. In her eyes, everything was clear. The challenge for her was to communicate her logic to the rest. –"The white king!"-

-"Let me check the map"- Chiba asked. Akane passed it through the room, until the Strategist had it in her hands.

-"Akane, it is true that the bed is somewhat far from the desk, but I don't think it is hard to suppose it just fell and rolled all the way to the bed"-

-"I think something else happened, Chiba-san. What I think happened is that…"-

* * *

_…Saitou hid the white king under the bed_

_…Saitou got the white king knocked out of his hands_

_…The culprit moved the white king under the bed_

* * *

**_…Saitou got the white king knocked out of his hands_**

* * *

-"I'd like to suppose that Saitou-san attacked the culprit first, with the white king, whether it was with the switchblade or the stone chess piece itself. Then during the struggle, the culprit managed to knock it off, and the white king rolled until it reached the spot where we found it"-

Nobody looked convinced by Akane's reasoning. Finally somebody spoke.

-"Ogata-chan, dear, it isn't because I doubt your words or anything, well, I do, but I think you're making a huge fuss over nothing"- Sakurai said, waving his hand.

-"Over nothing? I'm sure that Saitou-san was about to kill somebody that night, and invited a poor sap to his room to do it!"- Akane said, before she managed to calm down.

-"I'll have to agree, Akane-kun. You're supposing too much. There isn't really anything conclusive that proves that Saitou started the struggle. Would you like to defend your reasoning again? I'd like to see you do it"- Toriumi took a daring stance, ready for another round. This time Akane sighed.

-"Whatever. Let's see what direction this trial takes"-

But it didn't take a good direction. What followed were ten minutes where half of the graduates spouted possible suspects, and the other half disproved their reasoning. Miyata, Sawashiro and Kudo were the main accusers, while Toriumi, Matsukaze and Yukio were the ones who mostly countered the accusations.

Toyogushi kept chewing gum, Akane played with her hair, still thinking she was right, Chiba quipped with her own opinion once in a while, and everybody else just stood around, taking little part of the discussion. It was a senseless mess, with nothing productive being done.

The sheer uselessness of some grated the minds and heart of the most logical members of the group, while the accusations and cheap shots hurt the most sensible ones' feelings.

Finally, somebody said something that hadn't been proposed before.

-"We're getting nowhere. We should do something new, something that could take us in a new direction. I have been thinking…it is your chance to shine, Sawashiro-kun"- Matsukaze said, turning to look at the Medium. The aforementioned Sawashiro just let a –"Eh?"- While she waited for Matsukaze to say something more specific, which he did. –"Let's interrogate the victim himself. You can contact the dead, Sawashiro. Can you make him somehow be here so he can explain to us what happened?"-

Akane gasped. Of course! It was a possible solution to the whole thing, but she still said aloud: -"That's crazy!"-

-"Sometimes crazy is what one needs. It isn't Occam's razor, but it is better than continuing with this circus. Unless Sawashiro-kun can't do something like this, of course"- he said, with a tone that clearly implied Sawashiro was useless.

-"And now you're saying she is a sham? That's cold"-

-"I-I'm not a sham…but I need preparation, Matsukaze-san. Mystical signs and all, like we did last night. Letting a dead possess me isn't easy"- Sawashiro argued. Matsukaze replied that he could care less about preparations, and wanted a straight answer. Sawashiro was about to reply, when her face illuminated. It was obvious she had thought of something.

Monobear sprung from his throne. –"No, no, no! Talking with the victim would be cheating! There'll be no cheating in my trial!"-

-"Chill, bear. We don't even know if it is possible"- Toyogushi said, trying to calm the bear. It didn't really work

-"You know how boring a trial would be if the victim rose from his makeshift grave and started spilling the beans about his death? Where would be the emotion of that?!"-

-"No…Monobear…I think that the trial could take an interesting turn, if you know what I mean"-

Sawashiro was the one who had talked, and she was smiling towards the bear. Oddly, after a few seconds, Monobear stopped his angry behavior and sat down again.

-"Okay, go ahead, pull the poor soul out of his peace and bring him back to the despair"-

Akane raised her eyebrows. Monobear's sudden change of opinion seemed really unnatural to her, but she had no more time to dwell about it. Sawashiro had started mumbling.

The Medium shivered and held as strong as she could to her podium, she seemed like she was going through great pain. For a minute, Sawashiro acted erratically, and everybody supposed it meant she was trying to attract Saitou's soul back to the trial.

Finally, Sawashiro stood up still. Everybody looked at her curiously, dreading to see what happened. The Medium slowly raised her head, and looked around. It wasn't like her body had turned into Saitou, or as if her voice changed, but her expression had turned different, one that Sawashiro had never in her face before.

-"Eh? Oh? Where am I now? Why are you all reunited in a circle? Is this a witch hunt?"-

-"Who…who are you?"- Curtis asked cautiously. Sawashiro, or the person with Sawashiro's body, frowned as if it were a stupid question.

-"Hoshio Saitou, of course. Come on, Curtis-san, you're more attentive than this. Can't you see it is me?"-

-"It is because you're a girl now!"- Kudo shouted. Sawashiro/Saitou snickered, and looked at the robe he was wearing now.

-"Oh wow, this is true. I'm in Sawashiro-kun, right? At least I'm inside a beautiful lady"-

_Oh man, not even being dead can stop his shameless complimenting?_

-"Enough foolishness! Saitou-san, you were called here so you could say who killed you"- Toriumi hit her podium, and Saitou flinched.

-"Oh, yes, I'm dead. Hell is a real scorching place, you know"- he said. Nobody laughed or even smiled, they weren't really in mood for lame jokes. –"Okay, want to know who killed me?"-

-"Just do it"- Hikasa urged. Saitou extended his arm dramatically, and moved it around until he pointed to a concrete graduate.

-"It was her! Akane Ogata, you're the one who killed me!"-

Akane gasped. Saitou was really accusing her? She waited for a moment to see if he would change his pointing finger, but it didn't move. Now everybody was looking back to Akane.

-"No, I didn't…"- she said, but Saitou interrupted her.

-"You did! You came to my room and killed me!"- He shrieked in Sawashiro's voice.

The Chemist started to sweat. Leaving aside the accusation, she felt there was something very odd about the whole ordeal, starting with Monobear, and ending in Saitou's behavior. There was something about it she couldn't really pinpoint, but it told her that maybe there was something else behind the whole 'contacting Saitou' thing.

And now she had to once again defend herself, and find what was really going on in that trial.


	7. Chapter 1 - Trial II

After Saitou made his accusation, the graduates started to yell questions and outlandish affirmations at Akane. The Chemist was gripping the hem of her lab coat, trying to keep herself from saying anything before everybody calmed down. Saitou was satisfied with the reaction.

-"I can't believe it was you, Ogata-kun. You seemed like such a nice person..."- Hikasa said.

-"What did he ever do to you? Murderer!"- Reiji lashed out.

-"No wonder she tried to say Saitou had wanted to kill. She was hiding her crime!"- Sakurai shrieked.

-"Can we start the voting now? I want to take revenge on my murderer"- Saitou said.

Then finally somebody acted like the voice of reason. Yamaguchi hit her podium several times. -"It's way too early to mark Ogata as the culprit. We should continue the trial for a while longer. Remember that our lives are what are in stake here. We do it wrong, and we all die"-

-"I agree with her"- Curtis turned to Saitou/Sawashiro. -"Remember anything about the moment of your death?"-

-"How can I forget that? I remember all the details"-

-"Excellent, please tell us how you died. The more detailed, the better"-

-"I'll do as you say. Let me tell you you're being prudent, quite an admirable trait..."- Saitou cleared Sawashiro's throat and started talking.

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Candles / Ginchiyo's Testimony / Piece of Black Tape / Curtis' Testimony / Signs of Struggle (?)_

* * *

SAITOU: I was there in my room, getting ready to sleep...

SAITOU: ...when I heard a knock on the door. **Ogata-kun was the one visiting me.**

SAITOU: I invited her in, and asked what the matter was.

SAITOU: Then **she grabbed the black switchblade** and _**attacked**_ me!

HIKASA: Just like that, Ogata-kun?"-

OGATA: There are no limits to my evil. That was sarcasm, by the way

SAITOU: **I grabbed the white switchblade** and_** defended**_myself

SAITOU: But she was way too fast!

SAITOU: She hit me, and I fell. Soon it was over for me

YUKIO: That's quite the testimony. What do you have to say, Ogata-kun?

* * *

-"Only four words: You got that wrong!"-

-"What exactly was wrong?"- Toyogushi leaned on his podium, fidgeting. He was really aching to get out of there.

-"I didn't go to Saitou-san's bedroom at any point. I..."- Curtis interrupted in that moment.

-"We can't rely only on your words, Ogata-kun. Don't you have something more conclusive?"-

-"I was about to say that I have something like an alibi"- Akane said flatly. Saitou was surprised.

-"No, you don't"- he said

-"Ginchiyo-san, can you please tell everybody about what you did?"-

Ginchiyo complied. The Graduates listened go Ginchiyo's story about the strings, and added that the string on Akane's doorway was still intact.

-"She could have tied it again. That is what I'd have done"- Chiba pointed reasonably.

-"No, I'm sure it was never touched. It was exactly in the same place and position where I had left it. Besides, there is no way she could have known what it was for"- Ginchiyo replied. Chiba was skeptic about how effective the strings were.

-"I insist: it would be easy to tie it back. This alibi, as she had called it, is flimsy at best. Got anything better, Ogata?"-

Akane gritted her teeth. She didn't have anything more solid. She had kind of hope that it would have been enough to get people off her at least for a moment, but Chiba had destroyed that hope. She now had to find some other way to get out of the hot water.

-"Despite her lack of alibi, I'm still not entirely convinced that Ogata-kun is the culprit"- Toyogushi said, jumping on one foot –"Saitou-kun, can you tell us more about the attack?"-

Saitou mumbled under his breath, and then he talked aloud –"If it is needed, then yes, sure. But what, exactly?"-

-"Maybe you could mention something about the moment of your death. Go into more detail"- Kudo suggested. Saitou nodded.

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Bedroom Map / Monobear File #1 / Piece of Black Tape / Black King Stone Switchblade / Desk Drawers Content_

* * *

SAITOU: Ogata-kun started her savage attack **knocking off my switchblade**

YUKIO: That must be when it rolled under the bed!

SAITOU: I panicked, and tried to run away, but she pursued me!

SAITOU: **I was about to reach the door** when I felt a terrible pain

SAITOU: I had turned my head around, and **she hit me on the front**, and I fell

SAITOU: Ogata-kun didn't hesitate in finishing the deed, and then…

SAITOU: …I was dead…

YAMAGUCHI: I get beejeebies just from listening to him!

YAMAGUCHI: Must have been a really horrible death…

KUDO: Still lacking in detail, Saitou-kun.

SAITOU: I died, Kudo-san! It is a terrible thing to remember

* * *

Akane cleared her throat. Saitou somehow had managed to make a mistake, and it is one she didn't really understand.

-"Saitou-san, remember the bedroom map? Take a look at it"- she extended it in the air. –"See the big lump near this wall? That is where you were found. And see that rectangle, all the way to the other side of the bedroom? That's the door"- she folded the map back –"How does that work?"-

-"His body was dragged all the way to the opposite wall. It is that simple"- Curtis pointed, and Saitou quickly agreed with him.

-"No, that isn't possible. I examined the room, and there are absolutely no traces of blood except where Saitou's body was found. He died there, or at a very close distance"- Matsukaze said, shaking his head. Curtis and Saitou shut up. –"Saitou-kun, are you completely sure about your words?"-

The channeled salesman squeezed Sawashiro's hands. –"I…I don't know. I think I'm still in shock"-

-"Snap out of it, then! This is a dangerous trial"- Curtis retorted.  
-"I'm trying! Don't yell at me!"-

-"And despite all, you haven't really shown anything good against Ogata-kun. That lab coat is the only tangible evidence"- Reiji said, in a bout of confidence. Saitou took offense to his words

-"I came back from the dead to tell you all who killed me, and I'm treated like I don't even know who killed me?! I retract everything I said about you people. You all are dumber than…than…something dumb"-

-"You're making it really hard to support the accusation"- Sakurai mumbled, looking to the floor. Saitou clenched his fist.

-"You want something more definite? Then alright! Ask me something, I'll try to answer it"-

-"I personally am curious to what happened after the murder. Can you talk about it?"- Kudo inquired.

-"Shut up and listen now. This will be the last effort I make to steer you all into the correct road"-

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Lab Coat / Curtis' Testimony / Burnt Handkerchief / Bathroom Doors Mechanism / Medium Session: Assistants_

* * *

SAITOU: My memory is a bit fuzzy at this point

SAITOU: But I remember **being hit several times**

SAITOU: Then I felt like** I was thrown something light on me**.

SAITOU: I can't remember anything else

REIJI: Is that all? We're stuck. Yukio, any ideas?

GINCHIYO: Take a look at the evidence; we should be able to think something

CHIBA: _**The culprit ran away instantly**_. Going away is vital to the success of the murder

MIYATA: _**Tampering with the crime scene**_seems better to me

HIKASA: Or maybe_** tampering with the proof itself**_…

CHIBA: Or the culprit _**started to frame somebody**_.

GINCHIYO: There are too many possibilities!

* * *

_It is true there are a lot of possibilities, but there is one that is already confirmed…by this evidence!_

-"I agree, Hikasa-san! The culprit tampered with the evidence after the murder"-

-"I was right? Awesome!"- Hikasa was overjoyed to hear that he did it right, even if it may have been just luck.

-"This handkerchief is one of the evidence that was tampered"- she showed it to everybody.

-"Is that really a handkerchief? It is almost crumbling into ashes!"- Yamaguchi leaned, to see better the object.

-"Yes. The culprit used this to clean the weapon of the crime, that black king chess piece, and possible to clean any other blood on his/her body, or who knows what else. Then they tried to destroy it"-

-"With fire, I suppose. From the kitchen oven"- the Fashion Designer guessed

-"It was actually done with this:"-

* * *

Monobear File #1  
Signs of a Struggle (?)  
Lab Coat  
Curtis' Testimony  
Desk Drawers Content  
Saitou's ID  
White Stone King Switchblade  
Bathroom Doors Mechanism  
Ginchiyo's Testimony  
Piece of Black Tape  
Black Stone King Switchblade  
Medium Session: Lines Received  
Medium Session: Assistants  
Medium Session: Preparations  
Candles  
Burnt Handkerchief  
Sleeping Bag  
Bedroom Map

* * *

**Candles**

* * *

-"These candles were used last night, in the medium session. They were left there, nobody bothered to organize the cafeteria after that night. The culprit must have used them to singe the handkerchief until it was unrecognizable"-

-"Then it could have been avoided if the candles had been picked up. Let that be a lesso to pick up after yourselves, troop"- Chiba said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

-"I'm sure the culprit wouldn't have stopped there. The kitchen burners would have done the same"- Matsukaze pointed.

-"Leaving the evidence tampering aside, I think we can all see that Saitou got his head bashed so hard that the trauma lasted beyond death. I don't think his words are reliable'- Kudo said. Saitou choked, enraged, but he was interrupted by Yamaguchi.

-"So now what? If Ogata-kun didn't do it, then who is the culprit?"-

-"B-But she was the one to-to do it. Why are none of you voting her in this instant?! Are you all this useless?"- Saitou screamed.

-"Shut up now!"- Sakurai couldn't avoid saying. Judging by the looks on everybody's faces, that was what everybody wanted to say. Saitou didn't shut up, though. He gripped Sawashiro's robe, and kept shouting.

-"No, I won't shut up! I was summoned to tell you all who killed me, and you all ignore it! Who cares if I was inconsistent. I'm the fucking victim. I was there when I died. And that woman is the one who killed me!"-

-"Enough"- Chiba said sternly. Something in her voice convinced Saitou to shut up. -"It's our lives what's in danger here. I'll admit that the inconsistencies is what makes me doubt that Ogata-kun is the culprit, despite everything you say. And I won't be satisfied until I can vote without feeling there is something I'm missing"-

Saitou breathed heavily, Sawashiro's face contorted in a look of disbelief, but he didn't reply.

-"Let's leave Ogata-kun alone for now. Leaving her aside who could be the culprit?"- Matsukaze said slowly.

-"I think that Ginchiyo's strings antics could be a good clue. It gives us several names to analyze"- Akane said reflexively. She mentally started remembering every piece of evidence that had been found until that moment.

-"Really?"- Ginchiyo was ecstatic, as if she were the key to solve the case

-"So the suspects are Sawashiro-kun, Kudo-kun, Matsukaze-san and Yamaguchi-kun"- Hikasa remembered -"We have a small group of suspect already, but it shouldn't be long until we discard three of them!"-

-"Wait...no. I just realized there is a simple explanation for the missing strings. Ginchiyo's testimony means nothing now"- Akane said, after remembering something.

**DECIDE YOURSELF**

Akane looked at the person that had shouted at hef. Hikasa had a fierce look in his face, far from the gentle expressions she had seen so far.

-"You bring this in the first place, and then decide it is worthless?"-

-"It's that there is a way to..."- Hikasa interrupted her.

-"No! This is the best lead we have so far, and I don't think we'll let it go easily!"-

* * *

**Rebuttal Showdown**

_Swords: Desk Drawers Content / Medium Session: Assistants / Burnt Handkerchief / Piece of Black Tape / Medium Session: Preparations_

* * *

HIKASA: Ginchiyo's work with the strings is clear

Four students were out of their rooms!

Any of them could have visited Saitou-kun

There is no evidence pointing to anybody

Are you really going to dismiss the strings?

Do you want to have fifteen suspects again?

OGATA: It would be nice, but...

...the truth is that the happenings of that night...

...invalidates Ginchiyo's suspects list!

HIKASA: There you go again, dismissing it!

**There was no reason for all of them to be out** of their rooms.

**All of them had the opportunity to visit Saitou**

And** none of them have alibis.**

You have to see **this is our only lead**, Ogata-kun!

* * *

-"Sorry Hikasa-san, but there is a possible explanation for that"-

-"Then go ahead, explain it. I'm thick-headed, so you better make it crystal clear"-

-"In that night, around ten o' clock, there was a medium session. And all of those who were marked as suspects, with the exception of the victim, were present in that session!"-

-"Eh?"- Hikasa motioned for Akane to continue.

-"After it ended, I went straight to my room, and stayed there for the rest of the night. But nothing hints that the rest went to their rooms instantly as well"-

-"So you're saying that they returned to the room after the session, and after Ginchiyo put the strings?"-

-"That's exactly what I think happened!"- Akane said confidently.

Ginchiyo shook her head. -"You realize that if any of them is the culprit, you just gave that person a excuse?"-

-"All of you, please say what you did after the medium session"- Akane asked.

-"Well, I went to the lounge, Sakurai came later, and we stayed there for like an hour or so"- Matsukaze said. Sakurai nodded -"When I returned to my room I saw the string before entering, got rid of it, fell asleep and didn't come out until the morning

-"I did the same than him"- Sakurai said as well.

-"I spent time in the laundry room, reading something while I waited for my clothes to be done"- Yamaguchi informed.

-"I wasn't sleepy yet, so I walked around the shelter leisurely. Then around 11:00 PM, I stayed in the bedrooms hall for a good while"- Kudo said, shrugging.

-"Oh, that is true. When I went to my room, he was there"- Yamaguchi said. Matsukaze raised an eyebrow.

-"Why are you saying that now, Kudo? Why not before?"-

-"I didn't think it was important"-

-"And who passed through there while you were there?"- he questioned. Kudo thought for a moment.

-"Just Yamaguchi-kun. Nobody else came out of their rooms while I was there, and I stayed there for like half an hour, just thinking to myself"-

-"Matsukaze-san and I returned to our room earlier than 11:00 PM, so no wonder we didn't see Kudo-san"- Sakurai said, relaxed. Matsukaze reflected on the new testimony, and suddenly hit his fist on the podium.

-"I have solved it! I know who murdered Saitou!"-

Everybody reacted strongly. Several instantly asked him who killed the Salesman. The Detective laughed loudly. -"What, wanting the answer? Come on, try to make an effort yourselves. I know I'm right, no chance I'm wrong. But you can't rely on me to solve everything. What if I die, somehow? I want to see that at least one of you can solve a murder"-

-"That's being an idiot, pompous asshole. Stop being so full of yourself and say it now"- Miyata said, irritated. Matsukaze just made a gesture.

-"I'm a side character. Now, who wants to take a step ahead and be the main character of our story?"- he said, jolly.

Nobody stepped ahead, besides Saitou coming ahead and screaming once again 'It was Ogata-kun!", which only earned a roll of eyes coming from the Detective. It was obvious that nobody had a concrete suspect in mind. Matsukaze once again laughed.

-"That's disappointing. I'm going to be a good person, and give you all a clue: the murder happened at 11:00 PM. Kudo stayed in the bedroom hall for a good while, yet he saw nobody. I doubt the killer would spend more than five minutes after killing Saitou. Is that enough for all of you?"-

Once again everybody started to think. _The culprit didn't go through the hall...Kudo was there, it is to be expected he would see anybody. But then..._

Akane gasped loudly. -"I know it too! Of course!"-

-"Oh, Ogata-kun. Let's see if your deduction is correct. Make an accusation and explain the reason behind your accusation"- Matsukaze said. His eyes were shining. Akane didn't waste time.

-"The culprit had to get out of Saitou-san's room, but Kudo-san didn't see anybody. Would the culprit stay in the room with the dead body for half an hour or more? I really doubt it. But how would the culprit get out of Saitou's bedroom without being seen?

We all know that in each bedroom there are two doors. The main entrance to the room, and_ the door to the shared bathroom_. If the culprit didn't cross the main door, then the only way to escape would be through the bathroom.

And who does the room at the other side of the bathroom belong to? It's the culprit's own bedroom."-

-"Wait, are you really...?"- Miyata started saying, but didn't complete the phrase. He knew who exactly was Akane accusing, but he chose to stay silent, to see what she would say.

-"Yes, Miyata-kun. The killer's own behavior in this trial is also a dead giveaway. Now, that's the culprit of this case!"- The Chemist pointed at Saitou.

-"Uh, what? Saitou-kun? Are you saying he suicided?"- Kudo said, with obvious doubts. Akane rolled her eyes.

-"Of course not. Besides, Saitou-kun, not even his body or his soul, has ever stepped in this courtroom. Saitou wasn't even summoned, in the first place.

The culprit who killed the Salesman is none other than Aya Sawashiro!"-


	8. Chapter 1 - Trial III

**A note: I think it's worth noting that the lines in the Panic Talk Battle are basically the line that crash against the screen, hurting the player.**

**Just saying**

* * *

-"T-T-Tha-T-T-That's the most ridiculous..."- Saitou choked in his own words. He was fiercely trying to deny Akane's accusation, but Sawashiro had turned really pale.

-"Saitou-kun was never summoned. All this time Sawashiro-san has been pretending to be Saitou"-

-"So Sawashiro-kun is just one huge faker?"- Hikasa said, trying to process the scene.

-"No, I'm sure that she does have medium abilities. She didn't get accepted into Hope's Peak for nothing. What I'm saying is that she pretended to have channeled Saitou-kun so she could blame me for the murder"- Akane clarified

-"Well done, Ogata-kun. You hit the bullseye. Sawashiro-kun is the murderer"- Matsukaze said, clapping -"But we can't just stop here. We found the culprit; now let's clear the murder itself"-

-"No! First I want to make sure that the person here is Saitou-kun or Sawashiro-kun, whoever it is. There must be something Saitou-kun, and only Saitou-kun, can answer or do"- Kudo requested

-"Sure, let's do that. Any ideas?"-

-"We need something that we can all verify easily right here"- Curtis pointed

Akane said softly: -"Maybe this'll work...let's ask Saitou-kun..."-

* * *

_...about his life outside of the shelter_

_...about how to use the switchblades_

_...about the evidence in the trash compactor_

_...about the predictions in the medium session_

* * *

**_...about how to use the switchblades_**

* * *

-"How many in here know how to use the switchblades inside these chess pieces?"- Akane asked. Only Toriumi raised her hand -"Besides Toriumi-san, Saitou-kun should know as well. Let's pass one to him and see what he does"-

The Graduate who had the white king chess piece passed it to Saitou-kun, who grasped it doubtfully. He nervously looked around. Everybody had their eyes on him. He started twisting random parts of the chess piece, banged it agains the podium, and uncautiously looked directly on the blade slot, but he never twisted the cross at the top.

After a minute, it was clear that Sawashiro had no idea how to do it -"...it was true. God, it was true!"- Ginchiyo shouted. The defeated medium sighed.

-"Don't get the wrong idea. Saitou-san's soul left in his own volition"-

-"There's no way we're going to fall for that"- Miyata spat, with noticeable hate. Sawashiro looked at him directly for the eyes, for the first time Akane had seen her to do that, and said in the calmest voice possible:

-"Did I miss anything while I was gone, Miyata-kun?"-

Even Akane had to admit that Sawashiro needed a lot of guts to do it.

-"Did you kill Saitou, Sawashiro?"- Toriumi asked, crossing her arms.

-"No, and there is nothing indicating I did"- the medium replied. Miyata cleared his throat.

-"I'm afraid she is right, Matsukaze-san, Ogata-san. You all should know that the bathroom locks has a mechanism that would mean Sawashiro-san would be unable to go to her room through there. I do think she lied and pretended to be Saitou-san, but until anyone can show me a way, she's innocent to my eyes"-

-"How many times do I have to say this? I didn't pretend anything. I just came back from a trance. I summoned Saitou-san's soul!"-

-"This is getting embarrassing. Isn't there something that can shut her up now?"- Kudo groaned, holding his head. Akane took it on her hands to show the medium how she was wrong.

-"Sawashiro-san, you do have powers, but don't they need something so they're at full potential? I'm talking about this:"-

* * *

Monobear File #1

Signs of a Struggle (?)

Lab Coat

Curtis' Testimony

Desk Drawers Content

Saitou's ID

White Stone King Switchblade

Bathroom Doors Mechanism

Ginchiyo's Testimony

Piece of Black Tape

Black Stone King Switchblade

Medium Session: Lines Received

Medium Session: Assistants

Medium Session: Preparations

Candles

Burnt Handkerchief

Sleeping Bag

Bedroom Map

* * *

**Medium Session: Preparations**

* * *

-"Yesterday, before the session started, you said:

* * *

_Sit outside that circle, and be quiet. I need absolute silence. This is how I'll proceed: due to the limited quality of the setting around us, I'll have a very limited time to contact the spirits from beyond_

* * *

They were pretty complex preparations, yet you remarked it was of limited quality. If after all the work we did, you weren't satisfied (and I suppose your powers would be weaker), how are we expecting to believe that you brought a spirit here with absolutely no preparation beforehand?"-

Sawashiro took a moment before replying. -"I'm just that good!"- She said, sweating. Yukio scoffed.

-"Ogata-kun has an excellent point. I remember earlier you said:

* * *

_I-I'm not a sham…but I need preparation, Matsukaze-san. Mystical signs and all, like we did last night. Letting a dead possess me isn't easy_

* * *

Did your medium rules change in middle of the trial? That's awfully convenient"-

Sawashiro was breathing heavily. She was more nervous by the minute. The Chemist continued, unforgiving. -"Want me to relate everything you did last night, Sawashiro-san? Because I gladly will"- The medium didn't reply, she seemed about to cry.

-"I won't accept that! How...how did I get back to my room? Miyata-kun just mentioned those bathroom locks. There's no way for me to bypass them! I stayed in my room the whole night, I did, I did, I did, I did!"- she wailed, trying her hardest to not o start crying. Akane was feeling bad for the lady, but if they didn't label her as guilty, it would mean everybody else would die. And she definitely didn't think that fifteen lives were worth saving Sawashiro's life.

-"There's a way, Sawashiro-san. And you found it. I found something that hints it"-

-"I-I said there isn't any way. There's not, there's not, there's not, there's not!"- she continued, covering her ears with her hands. Akane took a deep breath. It was clear that Sawashiro-san wouldn't listen to logic, at least at first. The Chemist braced herself to what expected to be a continuous effort to make Sawashiro listen to her.

**Panic Talk Battle: Aya Sawashiro**

* * *

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!

Why can't you leave me alone?!

It's impossible, I tell you!

Continue and I'll curse you!

It's all a coincidence!

I was in my room all the time

Are you happy now?!

Listen to me!

I didn't do anything

No, no, no, no!

**Those bathroom locks...there's no way to bypass them!**

_ Piece of Black Tape_

* * *

Sawashiro screamed in anguish once Akane muttered those four words.

-"Sawashiro-san, during the investigation, we found a piece of black tape in the bathroom trash can. Using that single piece, bypassing the locks is very easy"-

-"That's...an impressive deduction, Ogata-kun. How exactly do you do that?"- Toriumi asked, obviously pushing the Chemist to continue.

-"If you put this over the hole where the lock latch would fit, then, even if the automatic system tries to lock the door, it'll be impossible for it to be fully closed. The normal doorknob latch would still close the door, but simply turning the doorknob would be enough to open it.

Now, imagine you're in Saitou-san's room, and you know that he bathroom locks are a problem. Once you finish the deed, you enter the bathroom, using Saitou-san's ID. The lock system normally would close the door that leads to Sawashiro's bedroom, but with this tape in place, all she would need to do to enter her room through the bathroom would be turning the knob. It wouldn't be locked. So, Sawashiro-san, am I mistaken?"-

Sawashiro didn't reply. Instead, she finally let go all the tears she had gathered during the accusation. Parts of her robe slowly became stained by her tears. She weeped, then spoke as clearly as she could.

-"Saitou-san...Ogata-kun, know that you were right. He...he did try to kill me"- she said, scowling. A few Graduates were surprised to hear that, but the rest didn't show any surprise.

-"So I was right after all, he did try to kill the culprit"-

-"Yes...he was going to go to my room to kill me that night. That is what he was going to do. Let me explain, please..."-

-"Are we really going to listen to her? She confessed. We could go to the voting now and finish this trial"- Sakurai said impatiently.

-"There's no harm on listening, Sakurai-san. Alright, Sawashiro-san. Tell us what happened"- Akane said, trying to calm the medium. When Sawashiro finally was in condition to speak, she started.

**Nonstop Debate**

_Bullets: Signs of a Struggle (?) / Piece of Black Tape / Monobear File #1 / Sleeping Bag / Bedroom Map_

* * *

SAWASHIRO: Saitou-san **was going to kill me in my room **that night

SAWASHIRO: He had visited me earlier, saying he wanted to talk.

SAWASHIRO: He had that sleeping bag with him.

SAWASHIRO: When I was distracted, he hid the bag and** put the tape to bypass the lock**

SAWASHIRO: I saw the tape and the bag much later, after he had left

SAWASHIRO: I had a bad feeling when I found it...and I went to confront him

SAWASHIRO: When he opened, he was putting on that lab coat...

SAWASHIRO: And then...and then...

YUKIO: She doesn't look in condition to continue. That's enough.

YUKIO: So Saitou-san had the weapon: **one of the switchblades**

GINCHIYO: He also had something to keep him from staining: **the lab coat**

MATSUKAZE: So Saitou-kun planned to kill Sawashiro-kun **and leave the body there**?

MATSUKAZE: That could have brought suspicion on him, due to the shared bathrooms and all

YAMAGUCHI: You really went through something horrible, Sawashiro-kun...

* * *

-"No Matsukaze-san...I don't think he really planned to leave the body in Sawashiro-san's bedroom. He visited Sawashiro-san and had brought with him that sleeping bag. He hid it somewhere, and Sawashiro found it later. If I had to guess, after Saitou-san killed her, he would have stuffed her body into the sleeping bag and moved her to another location"-

-"That actually sounds possible!"- Yamaguchi said –"I was actually wondering why it was in the trash compactor

-"I kind of panicked…I just wanted to get rid of anything that could hint towards Saitou-san"- Sawashiro muttered.

-"None of us could have known it was his sleeping bag"- Hikasa pointed. The Medium just frowned more.

-"I wasn't thinking straight, okay?"-

-"I think it's time for us to conclude this trial. We know what happened, don't we? Saitou-san was going to kill Sawashiro-san that night"- Yukio was smiling, full of relief. Akane was about to give a full synopsis of the events of the night, when a voice echoed through the court room.

**I'M NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCED**

Some of the Graduates groaned, as they thought they finally could put an end to the trial. Those who were more patients simply looked at the one who had spoken, as if they were asking for an explanation.

Toyogushi spit his chewing gum. –"I don't really think that Saitou-kun was planning to do anything. I don't doubt Sawashiro-kun killed him, but I don't remember anything that shows the Salesman was going to murder"-

-"Asshole! It's all clear now! How can you doubt it?"- Miyata shouted. The Stuntsman didn't reply. He just calmly stared at Miyata.

-"I already explained what happened"- Sawashiro said, drying her tears.

-"Lies created by scum"- was Toyogushi's response. The Medium bit her lip.

-"B-But what about the black tape? Saitou-san had a roll of black tape in his desk drawer. I'd bet my career that it's the same tape that was used on the bathroom lock!"- Yukio stammered, while looking like he was trying to be patient.

-"That lady could have put it in there"- was all that Toyogushi said.

-"But if she did, she could have used those newspapers to clean the evidence instead of using her handkerchief!"- Toruimi said. The Stuntsman continued unfazed.

-"She herself said she wasn't thinking straight. That should explain why she didn't use the newspapers. I won't believe that Saitou-kun was going to kill, unless there is something undeniable that points at his schemes."-

-"Will somebody knock some sense into this idiot's head?"- Miyata said, clenching his fists. Akane sighed.

-"I will. Toyogushi-san, please listen to me. I think I got what you look for"-

**Rebuttal Showdown**

_Swords: White Stone King Switchblade / Saitou's ID / Black Stone King Switchblade / Curtis' Testimony / Burnt Handkerchief_

* * *

TOYOGUSHI: Saitou-kun isn't a killer

Sawashiro-kun went to his room and murdered him

The Salesman didn't do anything to deserve that

Nothing I have heard so far is completely conclusive

Frankly, I think it's impossible to have something…

…that shows beyond any doubt that Saitou-kun…

…was being as bad as you're saying he was

OGATA: What if I say that there's something…

…related to the preparations Saitou-san had done…

…to kill Sawashiro-san?

TOYOGUSHI: Something conclusive?

Be my guest, convince me. There's no…

…**preparation that Sawashiro-kun couldn't have tampered**

Weapons?

The crime scene?

The body?

No matter what you name, Sawashiro-kun could have touched it

* * *

-"Now that's where you're wrong! There's something, and I mentioned it earlier"- Akane said, triumphantly. Toyogushi crossed his arms. The Chemist continued. –"Near the beginning of the trial, I said something about my lab coat, and asked who here knew how it had appeared in the crime scene"-

-"I see where you're going"- Curtis quickly caught up –"Toyogushi-san, the night of the murder I saw Saitou-kun coming out of the laundry room. He had a lab coat with him, surely the same lab coat that was found on his lap. After hearing everything else that has been said in this trial, I can't think of an innocent reason for him to have taken that lab coat"-

Toyogushi didn't reply, but he thought for a moment. Finally, he uncrossed his arms. –"I can't think of an innocent reason either. Okay, I accept it. Saitou-kun was going to murder somebody"- The Stuntsman had hints of a deep sadness in his voice. Akane wondered if he and the Salesman bonded at some point and she didn't notice.

-"That's it. We solved the case!"- Hikasa celebrated. Akane smiled, and got ready to say everything that had happened that night.

**Climax Logic **

* * *

_The events that led to Saitou's death started at some point during the day. Saitou visited the culprit. He had brought the sleeping bag, and a piece of black tape somehow concealed. The Salesman managed to distract the culprit with enough time to hide the sleeping bag and put the tape on the lock. Once the preparations on the Medium's room were complete, Saitou left the bedroom._

_Later, he went to the Laundry Room, and stole one of Ogata's lab coats. When he was leaving the place, Curtis saw him, and noticed the lab coat._

_A few minutes before the time of the murder, the culprit noticed the tape on the bathroom lock. She suspected foul play, and went to confront Saitou. He let her enter the bedroom, where Saitou was already wearing the lab coat. Surely he was going to kill the culprit around that time, if she hadn't come to his bedroom. _

_At some point, Saitou grabbed the white stone king, and attacked. It's possible he had removed the lab coat, as it was found on his lap and with only droplets of blood. The murderer counterattacked, using the black stone king, and managed to knock Saitou's weapon off his hands, and then hit Saitou on the head. Saitou fell, and the culprit, panicking, hit him three more times. The Salesman died._

_Now it was matter of getting out. The murderer, perhaps fearing to stumble upon somebody in the hall, decided to use Saitou's own trick to her advantage. A lucky decision, as Kudo was outside in the hall. The Medium used Saitou's ID to open the bathroom door, and surely discarded it, letting it fall in the spot where we found it._

_The murderer took with her the black stone king, which was the crime weapon. She entered the bathroom, and opened the door that led to her own bedroom. Saitou's trick had worked. She closed Saitou's bathroom door, and tear off the black tape off her lock, throwing it into the trash can._

_After she was in her bedroom, she found the sleeping bag Saitou hid. She cleaned the black stone king with her own handkerchief, and put it inside the sleeping back._

_At some point, the culprit sneaked out her bedroom, and went to get rid of the evidence. She stumbled upon the cafeteria and the candles that had been left there earlier, and had the idea to burn her handkerchief. She gathered and lit the candles, and let the flames do their job. The handkerchief didn't completely burn, but it was now unrecognizable._

_The Medium entered the Trash Room, with the evidence inside the sleeping bag. She threw everything inside the compactor, and turned it on. Soon the compactor meshed everything together, along with other garbage already inside the machine. The culprit left the Trash Room, and surely retreated to her room, thinking that she had done a seamless job._

_Maybe if it wasn't for Kudo's inopportune moment in the hall, somebody else would have been suspicious. We'll never really know for sure, but what's sure is that there's no mistake on who is our culprit._

_Did I miss anything, Aya Sawashiro? _

* * *

Sawashiro shaked her head, and nervously grabbed her braids. –"That was pretty accurate, Ogata-kun. Nothing left to say"-

Everybody stayed silent for a minute, not knowing what to say. Finally Monobear interrupted the silence. –"Have we reached a consensus? It's time for voting, then! Use the buttons in front of you to vote, and remember that it is obligatory. Abstaining from voting will earn you a severe punishment.

Will you be right? Will you be wrong? Let's find out!"-

Akane pushed the buttons in her podium until a name flashed on a small screen on it. _Aya Sawashiro. _

After all votes were tallied, an odd contraption appeared. It resembled a slots machine, with drawings of the graduates. Soon the machine stopped, showing three times Sawashiro's face. The slot machine glowed, and proclaimed in big red letters 'GUILTY'

Monobear clapped excitedly. –"This was a great beginning for our Graduates Meeting of Mutual Killing! Despite her efforts, and one gutsy faux-channeling that at least made the trial more interesting for me, you guys guessed the culprit correctly! The Medium cracked the Salesman's head with a stone chess piece!"-

Yamaguchi had started crying, and several others looked worn out or depressed. Sawashiro didn't say a word, either. Monobear continued talking. –"Come on, guys. Show more emotion! Seeing how this failure of a murderer already talked way too much about her crime, then tt's time for the central point of our trial! Time for the execution!"-

The word 'execution' made Akane feel horrible. Now Sawashiro was going to die. The Chemist knew that Sawashiro wasn't really a bad person. She had truly defended herself, to save her own life, and now her efforts had been in vain. The Medium took an opportunity to say a few last words.

-"Friends…I know that everything will be okay. I'll die, but it isn't bad. There's really something beyond this life, but I won't go there yet. First I'll stay with you all. Even if you can't see me, or talk to me or anything, I'll be at your side. I know that the horrible fiend behind this all will get his own punishment. Keep fighting, please"-

-"Enough of the sappy talk. Everybody grip your podiums, because it's time of the execution!"-

Monobear twirled his gavel in his paws, and slammed it into a big button that had emerged in front of his throne. The screen of the slot machine shone a new message. 'The culprit has been found guilty. Now starting execution"

The floor in the center of the courtroom opened, and a chain emerged from it. The clamp at the end grasped Sawashiro's neck, which trashed, trying to get rid of it. Despite her speech, it was still obvious that she was afraid of dying. The chain pulled Sawashiro violently, until she fell down the hole in the floor. As soon as she entered, the floor closed. Less than a minute later, everybody got their attention on a TV screen that had emerged from one of the walls.

* * *

**_Seánce_**

* * *

Sawashiro was clamped to a steel structure, forcing her to adopt a lotus position. The room around her was illuminated dimly, the only source of light being candles strewn around. The room was decorated like an old living room.

Sawashiro was sweating, looking around the best she could. The dim illumination was eerie, and the fear in the Medium's eyes unnerved the spectators. They all waited to see what would happen now.

A large trapdoor opened, a few feet in front of Sawashiro. A fierce orange glow emanated from the pit, there was fire at the bottom. Akane couldn't avoid thinking how it reminded her of hell. Sawashiro eyed the hole, terrified, as a long black clawed arm and hand emerged and grasped her leg.

In that moment, the clamps that held her to the structure opened, and she was able to move freely. She tried to remove the hand, but five more emerged. The hands grasped the Medium, while she fought to get away from the hole. It was useless, as slowly the hands dragged her until she was very close to the edge of the hole.

Akane closed her eyes, not wanting to see. Somehow the camera positioned itself over the hole, and it was confirmed, there was fire in the bottom of the deep hole and the hands did emerge from it.

No matter how much Sawashiro struggled, the hands won. With a final pull, Sawashiro was dragged into the hole, and down to the fire, the hands always grasping her. The trapdoor mercifully closed before anybody could see the Medium getting to the bottom, or burning by the flames.

The screen now only had the room, as if nothing had happened in there. Still dimly illuminated, and with the same decoration, just that now the Medium was now being roasted somewhere below it all. Monobear entered the room, and extinguished the candles.

* * *

-"Yaaahoooo! Oh, this was definitely my favorite execution to organize. I can't wait to try others in the future!"- Monobear was dancing excitedly on his throne. The Graduates were pale, some scowling, others with looks of terror on their faces.

-"What…what the hell was that?!"- Matsukaze shouted, furious.

-"She is burning! It's an horrible death, being burned alive!"- Sakurai shrieked.

-"How can you be so cruel?!"- Yamaguchi almost threw herself over the bear, but Matsukaze held her. Monobear was amused at how the Fashion Designer had almost attacked him.

-"Upupu, it's what she deserved. Let that be an incentive for future murderers: don't get caught, because you never know how you'll be executed!"-

The bear left the courtroom, laughing. Nobody had the strength to leave the courtroom in that moment; they all tried to comfort each other, with very little success.

Akane was one of the last to leave the courtroom. She went straight to her room, and lay on her bed. She was going through an experience nobody should go through. She thought about the teenagers that had been part of the School Life of Mutual Killing. Did they feel the same than her after their trials? This mix of depression, rage and despair?

Akane struggled to sleep. It was almost 6:00 PM, but she didn't want to go out. The only thing she wanted was to sleep, and forget that she could possibly die.

**Chapter 1: It's Like Losing a Limb to Despair**

**END**


	9. Chapter 2 - (Ab)normal Days I

**Chapter 2: Wolves Among Sheep**

Akane slept soundly until somebody started knocking at her door. Whoever was out there was doing a lot of noise. Akane stretched and opened the door. A panicky Yamaguchi was waiting there. She let out a sigh of relief once the Chemist opened the door.

-"Ogata-kun, you're okay! I was about to get help"-

-"Why wouldn't I be okay?"-

-"We're all nervous due to Saitou and Sawashiro's murder attempt-slash-actual murder. I was afraid to find you dead here in your bedroom. We all were worried"-

-"Worried? But I haven't even talked to anybody yet!"-

Yamaguchi waved her finger –"Precisely, Ogata-kun. You once again missed breakfast. Did you oversleep again?"-

Akane resisted the impulse to hit her head against the doorframe. –"Let's not start with that again. I was…worn out due to the trial. That is all"-

The Fashion Designer smiled, understanding. –"I missed breakfast too. We both are in the same boat. But enough talking, take this apple, sorry if it is starting to rot, and follow me. Something new happened, and we need your collaboration!"-

Akane rudely closed the door of her bedroom, and muttered 'I'll be out in ten minutes'. When she was ready, and judged that Yamaguchi wasn't waiting for her in the hall, she walked to the cafeteria, munching on the apple. She once again found her breakfast wrapped on tin foil. She was eating when Toyogushi entered.

-"There you are! We have been waiting for you. Come quick!"- The Stuntsman didn't leave. He glared at Akane until the Chemist decided she had made all wait enough.

-"Can somebody explain to me what's this new development?"- she asked, going along the Stuntsman towards the shutters that led to the red door. Akane expected to be taken towards the courtroom, but instead of entering through the red door, Toyogushi turned to the left and descended. –"Wait, wasn't there something blocking the path here?"- the Chemist asked, noticing the change.

-"Yep! There are new rooms to explore, and Chiba-kun insisted that we once again form groups. There they are"-

The rest of the Graduates were waiting in a small round lobby. Chiba glared at Akane, while she tried to explain why she was late.

-"…I also noticed that the ration was slightly larger than before"-

-"Now that Saitou-kun and Sawashiro-kun are dead, this means that there's more food now, but Chiba-san only have a bigger portion today because we did a good job in the trial. It's a onetime only treat"- Ginchiyo said.

-"Let's not focus on food, troop. There's a more pressing matter right now: we need to explore and assess everything we may find in the undiscovered terrain. Now I'll form the groups"- Chiba paired Akane with Kudo and Miyata. The CEO was glad to once again being part of the exploration team with Akane, but he didn't appreciate very much to have Kudo near. –"He's just a sappy goody-two-shoe"- he whispered to Akane before parting to explore. They had been assigned one of the tunnels that parted from the lobby.

-"It's soon to judge him like that"-

-"But really, what kind of sucky talent is 'philanthropist'? Since when being kind or helpful like he is gotten anybody far? The most I see him doing is building homes for the poor, and doing it for free"-

-"I'm right here, you know"- Kudo said nonchalantly. Miyata ignored him, and continued dissing Kudo. Soon they arrived to a pair of big wooden doors. The three of them pushed, trying to open it, until it finally happened. It was a library.

-"Awesome! Now there's something else to do besides staring at the wall"- Kudo excitedly grabbed one of the books and opened it in a random page. Miyata rolled his eyes, exasperated, and closed the book rudely.

-"We have stuff to do, dunce. Start being useful"-

Kudo gritted his teeth, but obeyed. The three started checking every inch of the library, including taking down the books from the shelves, trying to find any hidden passage or documents.

-"There isn't anything unusual here, it's just a library"- Akane said, putting back the last of the books back on the shelf.

-"Not everything was bad. I saw several good books in here. We could all start some sort of book club. I'm sure it could cheer up them!"- Kudo remarked, once again taking a book. This time Miyata had enough.

-"Can you stop being a useless imbecile?! Don't you see what our situation is?! We're fucking trapped in a shelter by a fucking bear, and you're treating this as if it were nothing"-

-"I know very well what the situation is. I saw Saitou-kun's body, and I took part of the trial, but I'm not going to let it all drag me down"-

-"Eh? Why not?"-

-"Because I'm around people. I live to help, that's my only goal in life. As long as there are people for me to help, then I'll be happy"- he said, looking at Miyata straight to the eyes. Akane was uncomfortable and nearing the library exit, but she was somewhat surprised at Kudo's attitude towards Miyata. The Philanthropist didn't seem to Akane like a person who would dare to talk back.

Miyata was less than impressed. –"Leave me alone"-. The three of them left the library, and walked towards the lobby of the new section of the shelter. Before they got too far, Akane noticed that Kudo took Miyata back into the library, and closed the door. She didn't pay much attention to it, and just continued ahead.

This time she had been the first one to return to report. She watched everybody else coming back, some more excited than others. Kudo and Miyata were the last ones to return. Miyata looked like he had been revealed the secrets of life, and now was looking at Kudo with admiration. Akane never thought she'd see Miyata with such an expression on her face.

-"Okay, are we all here now? Let's start with our reports"- Chiba pointed at Kudo.

-"There's a library, that way. It's filled with very interesting literature books; I'd say we'll all enjoy that place!"- He said. Some of the graduates looked cheered up at the perspective of having something to do. Chiba nodded, and Ginchiyo was the next to talk.

-"We finally opened that door in the kitchen, the one to the side of the pantry. It is a storage, but it has a second door, which is locked. The storage has a lot of stuff, but no food, unless you consider boxes and boxes of chewing gum as 'food'"-

-"I'm definitely taking some of that gum"- Toyogushi casually put what he pointed was his last piece of chewing gum into his mouth, and continued –"We found a garden"-

-"A garden? You mean, sun, water, and fresh air?"- Curtis asked, excited. Toyogushi shook his head.

-"It's underground. There seems to be a lot of plants that don't really need high maintenance, and the light is supplied through some potent lights. No idea about the watering mechanism"-

-"There's a whole room with lockers, most of them, broken, which seems odd to me. They don't fit into this place"- Toriumi said –"All of them are empty"-

-"These are some good finds, troop. Well done. Now it's my turn, but it'll be better if all of you follow me. It's…complicated"- Chiba started walking into one of the hallways, and led them to a big wooden door. To the side there was another shutter, leading deeper and downwards into the shelter, but that wasn't what Chiba wanted to show them. She opened the door.

It was a decorated room, with rugs, book shelves, a broken computer, a desk and one big chair. It also had another two doors.

-"…what's this place?"- Curtis walked towards the desk, and sat on the chair. He commented on how comfortable it was –"Wow, one feels powerful from behind this desk"-

-"It seems like an office to me. Got any idea of who's this office, Chiba-san?"- Yamaguchi said, trying to turn on the computer. The thing fizzled, and sparks flew from it.

-"This will explain who owns it"- Chiba walked towards one of the doors, and opened it. It was of the size of a closet, but it wasn't empty. Forming a pile, there were around twenty Monobears in there.

-"Hey! What're you all doing in my office?"- Monobear's voice sounded from the doorway. He looked at each graduate, who were asking for an explanation –"The Headmaster of Hope's Peak needs a room. Now everybody get out of here!"-

-"What's the problem? You never said anything about being unable to come here!"- Chiba pointed. Monobear wasn't taken aback. He instead inserted a claw into the computer tower and, much to people's amazement, it turned on. Everybody crowded around him while the bear typed some quick commands. The IDs beeped.

Akane took her own and read the update. "The Graduates are forbidden to enter the Headmaster's office without the Headmaster's permission"

-"And while we're at it, let me protect my presence in this place"- he said, while typing again. Once again the IDs beeped.

"Damaging any Monobear spare will count as attacking the Headmaster and will be punished accordingly"

-"There. Now you know the saying? The bear mauled the cat because the cat was too curious"-

-"That isn't even a real saying!"- Yamaguchi protested. Monobear laughed at her

-"Upupupu…it's more of a warning to you people! Enter here again without my authorization and you'll be the ones mauled!"-

-"Can we at least finish checking around? Just this once"- Matsukaze pleaded politely. Monobear considered it.

-"Okay, since you asked so nicely, you all may go ahead and knock yourselves snooping around here. But you better finish it in this moment, because it'll take a lot of convincing to enter again!"-

Despite Monobear's warnings, at least half of the graduates left the room, maybe fearing that they'd find something really compromising and Monobear would kill them for knowing too much. The rest, which were Akane, Chiba, Hikasa, Reiji, Yukio, Toyogushi, Sakurai and Matsukaze examined every inch of the office, looking for anything interesting. Besides the spare Monobears and the not-so-broken computer, there was only one unusual thing in the room. The other door had a pad to its side, a whole keyboard, where one could type three letters.

-"What's in here?"- Sakurai touched the pad lightly, ready to type.

-"Top secret"- was Monobear's reply.

-"You should get your hands out of there, Sakurai. It must be pretty important if there's a password to enter"- Hikasa pointed.

-"Why, what happens if one types the wrong password?"-

-"Do you really want to find out?"- Monobear leaned forwards, his voice filled with malice. Sakurai took the hands off the pad as if it were scalding.

-"N-N-No, I'm good. Welp, I'm outta here"- Sakurai practically ran out of the office. A while after that, Akane found something.

-"Keys! Lots of keys!"- she had opened the drawer of the desk. Inside it there was a ring filled with keys.

-"It must open most of the doors in the shelter"- Toyogushi said, examining the keys

-"That's right! They open any room except the shutters, the bedrooms and this office"- Monobear chimed in.

The Graduates passed each other the bunch of keys, trying to guess what key opened what door. It was fruitless, though. Soon the ring of keys was back into the drawer. They spent more time looking around the office, but there was nothing else to find. Monobear finally decided that they had enough time for investigating his office.

The rest of the graduates who had stayed continued investigating, but there was nothing else to note. Soon they all left the office, and Monobear closed and locked the door. The bear went and sat on his chair, and stretched. Those Graduates, always snooping around…not that they would have a chance to find out anything.

However, some sort of sixth sense bothered him. He snapped out of his satisfied thoughts, and opened the drawer. He took out the ring of keys and counted the keys. There was one missing now.

-"…Upupupu, I see…"-

-ooooo-

-"It's Monobear. Surely that password is related to him. He's one vain bear"-

Akane was discussing with Matsukaze the possibilities of the password of that door in Monobear's office, and what could be behind it. Akane was thinking that it was a way out, but Matsukaze was skeptical. He didn't think that Monobear would keep a way out in there, especially if somehow the graduates figured out the password.

-"But what could it be?"-

-"No idea. Besides, it won't matter. I'm very close to finding the Mastermind, Ogata-kun"- the Detective announced proudly, tipping his hat. Akane gasped.

-"Really? Who's it?"-

-"I have a few suspicions, but I'd rather to keep them for myself. I'll be able to name the Mastermind in max two days. See, it took me a week! I have a failsafe in case anything happens to me, don't worry"-

-"But who is it? Is it the SHSL Despair?"-

Matsukaze stayed silent for a moment. –"Let's say that…this may not be as simple as that. It's a theory, but I think there's more into this than what meets the eye"-

* * *

**Next chapter is a chapter for, eh, 'Free Time'. If you do have somebody who you want to see in more depth, then PM me or something. I have planned around three events for each character**


	10. Chapter 2 - (Ab)normal Days II

Akane was starting to get bored. She wasn't used to have so much free time; there wasn't much to do besides investigating, and that wouldn't be bad if she knew where to start. She had tried to ask for Monobear's permission to enter again to his office, but the bear had stated that she would have to show him her worth by 'bringing her the heart of a graduate' before being able to enter just once. Then he laughed in her face. The Chemist had no idea if he was serious or not, but she definitely wasn't going to find out.

So she decided to go check some of the library books. At least there should be some books she would like. When she entered the library, she saw Ginchiyo busy with a few of those.

-"Hi there, miss Ogata"- she said, looking up and smiling.

-"Ginchiyo-san, what are you reading there?"- Akane asked, approaching. She saw the letters of the cover. _The Flight of the Red Crane_

-"Somebody made a novelization of my short movie. So far it's pretty accurate"- she replied.

-"I have never watched it…what is it about?"-

-"No spoilers! But basically it's a plebeian's quest to find her destiny in the world, so she starts by turning into a servant in a Chinese empire"-

Akane's attention was piqued. –"That sounds actually watchable. What inspired you to create that short film?"-

Ginchiyo put down the book. She mulled for a moment. –"It's…complicated. It was actually inspired…based on my sister. I'm not saying she went to China to be a servant, it's just that it's based on her, her personality and our relationship"-

-"It's very sweet of you to have based it on her! I bet she's proud"- Akane said, cheerily. Ginchiyo didn't reply. For a moment she seemed like she was going to cry and she pushed down the sunglasses so they covered her eyes. Akane noticed it. –"Is there something wrong, Ginchiyo-san?"-

Ginchiyo didn't reply. She took the book and went towards the door. Akane stood in front of it so the Film Maker wouldn't leave. –"I don't want to talk about it"-

-"What's the matter? Are you and your sister in bad terms or something?"-

-"I said I don't want to talk about it!"-

-"But what's wrong? Ginchiyo-san, you'll feel better if you tell me. Please, let it out"- Akane pleaded. It was glaringly obvious that Ginchiyo was in deep internal turmoil, and the Chemist wanted to help her to feel better. The Film Maker didn't move, though. She grasped the book tighter and started talking.

-"Shizuka…she was a good girl. She was a good girl, I tell you. It was my entire fault, Miss Ogata"-

-"What happened to Shizuka?"-

-"She was alone that day. If I hadn't done it, she would be fine"-

-"Did something happen to your sister?"-

-"She's dead, Miss Ogata. That happened"-

-"…oh"- Akane felt really awkward now. Ginchiyo was not crying, but Akane could feel an aura of sadness around her. It was matter of time before she started crying. Akane judged it was a good moment to let Ginchiyo leave the library, so she stepped far from the doorstep, but Ginchiyo didn't leave.

-"It's a long story, Miss Ogata. I don't feel capable of actually telling somebody about it"-

-"You don't have to do it. Let's do something else to steer you far from those memories"- Akane felt responsible for Ginchiyo's actual mood. If she hadn't insisted on digging deeper, she wouldn't have been forced to reveal that information.

-"Alright. Have I told you you're good looking, Miss Ogata? It's said that a good starting actress needs good looks and talent when starting. It's harsh, but it's the truth. Let me see if you can act!"- Ginchiyo seemed to have cheered up a little.

_Ginchiyo made me act some scenes of her movie_

-ooooo-

Akane got out of the library, leaving Ginchiyo once again reading the novelization. Their acting moments helped to cheer up the Film Maker, she didn't seem depressed anymore. However, at the end Ginchiyo had made a promise to Akane.

-"Thank you for everything, Miss Ogata. Maybe someday I'll be confident enough to tell you about…Shizuka. Someday, I promise it"-

The Chemist felt a little uncomfortable. She felt like she needed fresh air, but seeing how she was in an underground shelter under the city, it was impossible to go outside. She decided to go to the garden, it was the closest thing to the outside there was.

The way to the garden included a stairway, leading upstairs. At the end there was a round room, filled with lamps and hoses on the ceiling. There was one person examining the plants.

Sakurai was leaning towards one of those, with gardening shears. He carefully cut some parts of the plant.

-"There, it's now done"- he said aloud, and started to coo at the plant. Akane cleared her throat loudly, interrupting Sakurai. The young man saw Akane, and whimpered comically. –"How long have you been there?!"-

-"Long enough to see how you almost sing lullabies to a plant, Sakurai-kun"- Akane said, trying to tease the Good Luck graduate. Sakurai wasn't happy.

-"That's really rude, you know. It was supposed to be a private time between me and the plants!"-

-"I didn't think it'd bother you that much. I'm sorry"- she said truthfully. Sakurai took a deep breath and calmed down, and continued attending the plants, this time without cooing. Akane approached and watched how Sakurai did these activities. He seemed like he knew what he was doing.

-"I didn't know you had gardening abilities"- she commented. Sakurai didn't look at Akane.

-"I do. I may have gotten into Hope's Peak due to sheer luck, but that doesn't mean I'm useless, dear. I consider myself a man of many talents"-

Akane smiled. So far Sakurai had seemed to her just like an average guy, with nothing special to tell. Maybe now her impression would change. –"Like what?"-

Sakurai left the gardening shears there and walked to the wall. There was a gray console in there, with huge bundles of wires coming out of it. –"Besides gardening? I'm also a good electrician. Whoever made this shelter is really careless…leaving these wires without something to cover them"- he opened the console and flipped some switches –"There. No more danger"-

-"Gardens and electrical stuff. What else?"-

-"Um…well, I'm also a good gamer. I wish there were videogames in here; I'm tired of playing the same one over and over"-

-"Okay, games may count. Anything else?"- Akane wasn't very impressed so far.

-"Eeeeh…carpentry. Yeah, that too. I could create wooden stuff. Of course there's no wood inside this shelter, so I can't demonstrate. I think that's all"- Sakurai finished.

_None of them are of much help in here. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up _Akane thought grimly. Although it was good to see that Sakurai had talents, even if they weren't SHSL level, she still wished they were more useful to their situation.

-"Don't think less of me because I'm not a real SHSL"- Sakurai seemed to have noticed what was crossing Akane's mind. The Chemist forced herself to smile, and replied that she wouldn't. Sakuari picked up the garden shears again and continued tending to the plants. Akane decided that, at the very least, she should try to bond with Sakurai.

_I helped Sakurai do gardening_

-ooooo-

Akane entered her bedroom to take a bath. She was full of dirt, after the gardening. Sakurai insisted to deal with every single plant in the garden, but Akane did enjoy it. There was something nice in taking care of something alive.

She had just finished it when somebody knocked to her door for the second time that day. She dressed hastily and opened the door to see Miyata.

-"Hi Ogata-san. I was wondering if you'd like to spend some time with me"-

The Chemist nodded, and went to the hallway. Miyata led her to the cafeteria, where he had some tea ready. He gave Akane a cup, and sat, contemplating her. Akane couldn't avoid remembering that Miyata always seemed to be glad at her presence. Could it be that he had a crush on her?

-"So, Miyata-kun. Have you made any friends?"-

-"Don't talk to me like I'm a kid, please"- he said, frowning.

-"It's just curiosity. Who do you get along with?"-

-"I don't really get along with anybody here. They're all a bunch of people who couldn't do business to save their own lives"- he said, with clear dislike –"The only one who seems to be okay is you, Ogata-san. You're different"-

Akane couldn't avoid feeling flattered, having the CEO's approval. He continued. –"And as such, I expect great things from you. Would you like a spot in my company?"-

-"A spot? What kind of spot?"-

-"You could paint buses"- he said. Akane stared at him, and took a sip of her tea, hoping that he wasn't serious. His straight face, however, said the opposite.

-"I'm not interested"- she said bluntly. Miyata looked surprised.

-"Why not? I mean, you could be in the best company ever created by somebody of my age! I'm sure a lot of people would kill to have a position in it"-

_Bad choice of words, man. Also, I doubt it _–"Thanks for the offer; Miyata-kun, but I don't really want it. I'd like to do something better in my life than painting buses"-

-"But think of the chemical stuff you could do. You could learn a lot of stuff about paint and its components while painting vehicles"-

Akane felt more annoyed with each word. What was up with him? Was this really what Miyata said to his potential employees? She was baffled than anybody would accept.

-"Is it the pay? Want money? If you want to, I could set you with an interesting salary, the best I have given to any of my employees. You'll have special privileges compared to everybody in your tier"-

Now Akane decided it was time to end the conversation. She chose the most hurtful thing she could think: -"Is your precious company still on foot, even after the apocalypse?"-

Miyata looked as if she had spit on his face. He stammered. –"W-Well, it's…not as good as before, but…"-

-"If it isn't 'as good as before', then I doubt you'll be able to give me privileges and that pay you promise. So no thanks, and I'm not interested"-

Miyata looked disappointed and somewhat hurt. Akane regretted losing her patience. –"Sorry if I was harsh, Miyata-kun"-

-"Did I say something wrong?"- He asked softly.

-"That wasn't really a way to offer a job. You made it seem like…you were desperate, in my opinion"-

-"I'm not somebody who knows how to talk to people. I'm better at marketing and economy. I know it's odd to be good at marketing when one's unable to actually talk with people, but that's how I am"-

-"If you want to, I could teach you a few tips, let's call it that"- Akane offered. Miyata smiled.

-"I'd be grateful. So, what do you have to teach me, Ogata-sensei?"-

_I taught Miyata some pointers on how to improve his relations with people_

-ooooo-

Akane sat on her bed. It was now time to sleep, according to her clock. That had been a nice day, at least most of it. Relaxed, and she met better three of her partners. How long would that apparent peace last, though? It was doubtful it'd be for long.

She didn't want to think about it, though. She preferred to focus on the good sides of her actual life. With those thoughts, she fell asleep.

-ooooo-

Monobear was sitting on his chair, in his office. In the nights he was supposed to wait for his master to come to the office, that is, if there was need. He didn't mind. As it was in his actual programming, it wasn't like he had a say in the matter.

That night it was different, though. In his cybernetic mind he saw an ID approaching the office. He knew very well who had that ID. The bear got off the chair, ready to receive his master.

The door creaked, and the Mastermind stepped in. –"Night, Monobear"-. The Mastermind had acquired the habit to talk with Monobear as if he were another human. The bear almost never replied, though. The person the Mastermind had asked to modify the programming hadn't inserted a function like that.

The Mastermind continued talking. –"I didn't think I'd need to retouch your programming, my friend. But special circumstances require special measures"- The Mastermind walked towards the computer, and pointed at it. Monobear approached and inserted his claw on the computer tower, turning it on. The Mastermind opened a few files, and started typing. The code would make Monobear kill whoever uttered a keyword, depending of the place it was said.

-"Now time for the trigger word"- The Mastermind connected a portable microphone to the computer power. Then he said clear and aloud the word that would trigger the function he had just activated.

-"Volkos"-


	11. Chapter 2 - (Ab)normal Days III

Akane was awoken by Monobear's voice. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus on what was being said…

…"at the conference room. There's a new announcement!"-

The voice came from the speaker hidden somewhere in the room. Akane got off the bed and sighed. _One day more in prison. _She quickly dressed up without bathing, as she judged there was no time. When she left her bedroom, she stumbled upon Reiji. They slowly walked together towards the conference room.

-"Good morning, Ogata-kun. How bothersome that the bear is calling us again, eh?"- he greeted.

-"Yeah…"-she wasn't really in mood to talk, and the truth is that she didn't like Reiji very much. Yukio seemed like a nicer person than the Law Master.

-"Monobear will, most likely, give us another motive to kill. I have a really bad feeling about this"-

-"It can't be worse than the threat of crippling us. Compared to that, anything else will seem like a minor problem"-

Reiji sighed. –"I wish I had your optimism, but the world is an ugly place, Ogata-kun, and you never know what lurks in people's hearts. My brother, for example…"-

-"What about your brother?"-

-"Ignore what I said. It's time to deal with this"- they had arrived to the conference room, everybody else were already there. Nobody was talking. Reiji sat with his brother, while she sat on the front row. A few minutes later Monobear appeared from behind his podium.

-"There are still fourteen of you. We're going too slowly! Are you all seriously going to wait until you starve?"-

Nobody replied. Monobear didn't seem to care. He put his paw behind his head, and continued. –"Upupu, a tough crowd today. Are you all afraid of the big nice bear?"-

-"What's this special announcement you said you had to do?"- Toriumi asked, glaring at Monobear. It was clear she wasn't going to let him take time prodding them trying to make them mad. Monobear grabbed a control over a nearby table.

-"Okay, since Miss Congeniality over here refuses to let me do small talk, I'll go straight to the point. Let's have a history lesson now"- he clicked a button of the control, and the screen on the back of the conference room turned on. It was a photo of the city, before the apocalypse happened.

-"The world was a beautiful place, wasn't it?"- Monobear spoke from the shadows –"Everything was as peaceful as humanity could be. Then, each one of you was accepted into Hope's Peak, each one in a different year"- the image changed to some sort of collage made of photos of each graduate, doing several fun activities at the school. Akane felt nostalgia from seeing it. –"And what wonderful years they were, eh?

Three great years. All of you graduated and were set to have successful lives. All of you found a job and managed to be recognized in your respective careers. There was nothing you couldn't do. But then…disaster struck!"- the image changed to a charming image of Junko Enoshima.

-"This girl started her plans to fill the world with despair, and before you knew it, she had managed to have a group of followers"- Shadowy figures now filled the screen –"Her charisma filled dozens of people. All of them, Hope's Peak students and former students, used their talents to spread despair all around the world. They were the Super High School Level Despair

So the world as you all knew it ended. For two years, despair ruled over the world! But as all good things, it started to end too. Junko Enoshima died in her efforts to crush hope!"- The image changed once again, and Akane almost threw up. It was an image of the remains of Enoshima. Noises from the back of the room let her know that others couldn't contain the bile.

Monobear didn't flinch –"Get it? Crushed! Gyahahahaha!"- he stopped for a few seconds more, and then changed it. Once again the shadow figures were in the screen –"Junko's Super High School Level Despair started decaying. Most of their members committed suicide, while others continued the carnage that filled the world. There are very few who are alive now, possibly around fifteen"- Monobear turned off the screen, and looked at the graduates.

Everybody was confused, unsure of what was Monobear's objective. Finally Akane spoke. –"What does this have to do with us?"-

-"I'm telling all of you this becaaaaause…one of you bastards is one of the remaining members of the Super High School Level Despair!"-

The reactions were mixed. Half of the graduates gasped and whispered between them, while the other half wasn't too impressed. Akane definitely was expecting something along those lines. –"So what?"-

-"What do you mean by 'so what'' One of you ruined everybody else's promising futures! Helped to end the world, and is one of those keeping it in despair"-

-"Most of us supposed that there was a SHSL Despair here, and we all know about who they are and what they had done. You telling all of this to us change nothing"- she said sternly.

Monobear stood in there in silence, and then looked forlorn. –"I thought I'd be able to cause more paranoia and despair between all of you. I keep forgetting I'm not dealing with children, you're all grown adults"- he lifted his head and looked straight at Akane –"Oooh…do you really think I didn't manage to do it? Upupupupu"- he once again entered his podium, leaving the graduates alone.

-ooooo-

Everybody were leaving to continue with their lives, but Chiba went around convincing them to go to the cafeteria. Apparently she wanted everybody to have breakfast now, but Akane was positive that the Strategist wanted everybody to discuss the motive. She seemed to be specially angry.

Everybody went to the cafeteria, as it was much easier and faster to comply than to try to go away. Chiba distributed the rations, and when it was all done, she sat with Akane.

-"So, it has been confirmed that a SHSL Despair is around us. Which one do you think it is?"-

-"It's the Mastermind, of course! Nobody else would be sick enough to trap us all here!"- Miyata intervened.

-"So...the rest of the SHSL Despair are outside, watching us all?"- Yamaguchi asked, doubting his words.

-"Most likely. It's a pretty fucked up group"- Miyata replied, matter-of-factly

-"That is putting it lightly. They don't have a shred of humanity left. They have little regard for anybody, not even for their own families. I'll admit I feel uneasy knowing one of us belongs to such a group"- Chiba added

-"Why did he use this as his motive, though? I don't see a lot of sense there"- Toriumi mused.

-"He's trying to be snarky or something like that. Don't pay attention to him"- Yukio replied. He was unusually pale and sweating.

-"SHSL Despair between us or not SHSL Despair between us, we need to focus on getting out of here or catching the Mastermind. I hope everybody has some sort of plan on that"- Chiba said sternly. Only Matsukaze and Toriumi held her glare, the rest looked down. –"You can't just wait there until somebody finds something! Contribute to the cause!"-

-"It's that I have no idea where to continue. I have checked everywhere and everything, yet I can't find a single clue about the Mastermind"- Ginchiyo apologized. Other people murmured, echoing on his words.

-"Definitely a bunch of amateurs"- Matsukaze said with obvious frustration.

-"Now, no personal attacks, Matsukaze-san"- Chiba reprimanded. Matsukaze scowled, clearly not liking this.

-"It wasn't even directed to anybody. Have I ever told you what a handful you can be at times?"- He spat before leaving. Chiba sighed.

-"He can be so rash at times…okay, start eating, people. Remember not to overfeed"- she clapped, and stood up. Akane felt the need to go towards the Strategist. The Chemist apologized for Matsukaze's behavior, even if she knew it wasn't her fault. Chiba waved her hand. –"It's okay, Ogata-kun. I know how he feels. You know what would put him in good mood? To see somebody doing a big effort to find something useful. And I have a plan for that"- she confided.

-"A plan? Can I help?"-

-"No, I can do it alone. Besides, it isn't much, and if I don't find anything useful, at the very least I'll be able to inform him about my efforts. It'll work. Between you and me, this plan is much simpler than any battle strategy you can think"- Chiba left the cafeteria with a smile, and entered the storage. Akane was somewhat confused by her words. _I'd expect it to be simple, yes_

When the Chemist was about to finish her breakfast, she being one of the last graduates left in the cafeteria, somebody sat in front of her. She looked up to see who it was. Once again, Reiji had come to talk to her.

-"Hi once again. What do you think about Monobear's motive?"-

Akane shrugged. She wasn't really in mood to talk extensively about the matter. Reiji ignored it, and continued. –"It actually has me a bit concerned. A SHSL Despair is a really messed up person, yet I can't see anybody that could be it"-

-"I don't want to think about it"- she said bluntly. Once again Reiji ignored it. He started to point towards some of the graduates left.

-"Curtis. A painter. However, who knows what he's hiding. What if he has another talent besides painting? What if his other talent is something…darker?"- Reiji whispered. Without waiting for Akane's reply, he kept talking –"Yukio…my own brother. At times I swear I can't recognize who he is. He hasn't been the same since he graduated and took part of The Council"-

-"The what?" – Akane managed to chime in.

-"Ah, for some time he was part of Hope's Peak's administrative council, representing the graduates. Chiba…there are dark rumors about her. See that behavior? She's a Strategist. I wouldn't be surprised if she were hiding a sinister personality behind that whole leadership façade. Be careful"-

-"You're being too par…"- Reiji put a finger against her lips, hushing her.

-"Paranoid? I'm being realistic. How well do you know your friends, even your past ones? Toriumi. What has she done since she graduated? What if she…got involved with you-know-what? She would never tell anybody if she did, and you wouldn't be able to see the difference"-

-"Please stop now! I don't want to suspect anybody. Not…right now"- Akane stood said aloud, attracting everybody's attention. She regretted having raised her voice. Reiji smirked, as if he were laughing at Akane's protest.

-"I'm just being realistic. You never know what lurks in people's hearts. And if there's a SHSL Despair in this shelter…chances are that this wretched person will try to kill. Offense is the best defense, Ogata-kun. Keep that in mind"- and with those words, Reiji left the cafeteria. Akane resisted the impulse to throw something at his head. She knew that his intention was to keep her warned about people, most likely so nothing happened to her, but she hated him in that moment.

Now she couldn't avoid thinking if what she was seeing in her graduate comrades was who they really were.

_Damn it!_

-ooooo-

The morning went slowly. Akane really wanted to do something active, but nothing in the shelter was fitting for this. She sighed, and decided to go to the garden. Maybe it could be relaxing.

She was going near the red door, when a hand touched her shoulder. She turned around, startled. Matsukaze stepped back, and apologized.

-"I'm sorry Ogata-kun, I didn't mean to scare you"- he said, holding his hands to his chest. Akane murmured a 'it's okay'. –"Have you seen Hikasa? I need to talk to him urgently about the Mastermind"-

-"No, I haven't seen him. Maybe he's in his bedroom. How has your investigation been going so far?"- Akane asked

-"Excellent. I have narrowed the possibilities to only two graduates"- he refused to say more. When Akane asked why, he said that it was because he didn't want anybody looking at the suspects with an expression that said 'I could be looking at the Mastermind right now', but he promised that there was a notebook in one of the lockers that would reveal everything. –"I'm not an idiot, Ogata-kun. There's a risk of the Mastermind getting rid of me, so the notebook will be your guide. Be glad it isn't a vague mess!"-

-"I haven't thought much of who is the Mastermind…it makes me feel really bad to think that one of my friends could…be…the…"-

Akane and Matsukaze were passing in the front of Monobear's office, and inside it, sitting on the chair, was Tomoe Chiba. On the desk there were strewn the disemboweled parts of Monobear.

-"What the hell have you freaking done?!"- Akane entered the office, screaming –"You're going to die now!"- Matsukaze entered calmly behind her. Seeing the Strategist with a screwdriver in hand messing with the robotic bear's technological innards didn't seem to even surprise him.

-"Ca-Calm down, Ogata-kun. It's all okay, I got…permission"-

-"But doesn't this count as attacking the Headmaster?"- the Chemist pointed, still panicking

-"He said that as long as I assembled this spare exactly as I found it, I wouldn't die. In my opinion, the bear wants everybody to make an effort investigating…remind you of somebody?"- Chiba pointed at Matsukaze with the screwdriver.

Akane took a moment to calm down, while Chiba pulled carefully pulled some wires more. –"Okay…it'll all be okay. But how did you even get permission to enter here? Monobear said that nobody could enter without his approval"-

Chiba grimaced, with obvious discomfort. –"I don't want to talk about the matter"- she said bluntly. –"Looks like disarming Monobear was more or less useful. While I didn't find any clues to the Mastermind's identity or something like that, I did find this"- she lifted a round black sphere and put it heavily on the desk. This time Matsukaze staggered back.

-"Be careful with that! It's clearly a bomb!"-

-"I know very well it's a bomb! I myself have worked with a few, this one is deactivated…for now. The thing is, I found this inside Monobear. We could get the ones in the spares along with this one and use them to blow up the entrance and get out of here"-

-"Then let's do this now!"- Akane said cheerfully. Matsukaze sighed.

-"Do you really think he'd let us gather a bunch of bombs?"-

-"No, he won't. But when the Mastermind is dead or something, this will be the way out. Just thought you should know. And here, check this too"- she lifted a few chips. –"These are some sort of wave receptors, and while I'm not completely sure, they look pretty powerful. Makes me think that there's even a chance that somebody could pass information to Monobear while being away"-

-"Impossible. We're underground under who knows how many tons of concrete. No way any kind of waves can pass through that"-

-"Yeah, I'll agree. Maybe these are to be used here in the shelter?"-

Their discussion about Monobear's workings was interrupted when the bear himself appeared on the entrance. –"What are you two doing here? Chiba-kun, when I gave you permission to enter, it clearly was without any guests"-

He approached Matsukaze and Ogata, claws bared. –"Get out of here! Scram! Out, out, out, out, out!"- he unceremoniously pushed both graduates out while Chiba made a face of 'sorry guys' and shrugged. Then Monobear slammed the door in their faces.

-"How rude!"- was all Akane could say while she stood up. Matsukaze seemed like he was deep in thought.

-"How did he know we were in there? There are no cameras, and for all he knew, we could have been inside our bedrooms"-

-"Does it really matter?"-

Matsukaze didn't reply. He left with a 'See you, Ogata-kun"- and left her while he went towards the first area. Akane growled, and went to the garden. She really needed relaxation now.

-ooooo-

After lunch, she went straight to her room. What did she have to do now? Why not to talk to somebody? At the very least, as a way to kill time.

Akane left her room, and knocked on Yukio's door. She remembered how Yukio had acted when she had mentioned his brother's title. Could it be that he secretly needed to talk and just didn't have the courage? She would give him the courage.

Yukio opened the door, and greeted Akane. She entered, and once again looked around. Nothing had changed.

-"How nice of you to visit me again, Akane-kun. Is it okay if I call you Akane-kun?"-

-"It's fine. Listen…I think that there's something you should tell me. I couldn't avoid feeling that there's some sort of dread behind you and your brother's title. Just wanted to tell you that you'll feel better after you talk about it"-

Yukio looked very uncomfortable –"It isn't much about my title…it's something different, but it's pretty related to it"-

-"Want to tell me? You can trust me, Ohmoto-san. I'm your friend"-

-"Sorry, I don't feel ready for this"- he said. His expression showed he wasn't going to change his mind about it, at least for the moment. Akane accepted his reticence.

-"Then why don't you tell me of something else? Like your time in Hope's Peak. You were there several classes before me, weren't you?"-

-"Well, my brother and I are from the 68th Class. We were pretty good students! I suppose that's why I was chosen for the Council once I graduated. They saw in me a great candidate to represent the graduate students' interests"-

-"So you got pretty good grades!"-

-"You could say that. I also was part of several clubs. Call me an overachiever"- Yukio laughed, proud of his accomplishments –"Something I'm especially proud of, is that I took part of some big chances in Hope's Peak after I graduated. I was one of those who pushed to keep the Good Luck tradition, I helped to establish the Reserve School, and I also gave them some indications on how to spend their money better. You have no idea how bad they were at that!"-

-"You were really influential, then!"-

-"My dream was to be Hope's Peak's Headmaster, you know. I saw all of these as steps to achieve my dream"- he said cheerfully –"Once the world returns to normal, I'm going to be Hope's Peak's new headmaster. I'm sure I could make the school be what it once was"-

-"Do you have plans for it?"- Akane felt somewhat awkward. Yukio seemed so glad of talking about himself and his plans, that she felt it would be wrong of her to form a conversation of her own. Listening seemed like a better plan

-"Oh, I really do! It's a long thing, though. Are you sure you want to listen to it?"- Akane nodded. Yukio took breath.

_Yukio made a long speech about what he would do once he was the Headmaster_

-ooooo-

Akane got out of Yukio's bedroom, dazed by his plans. That school would really get better once he got control of it! If she really knew the Law Assistant as good as she did, then Yukio would definitely be able to pull it off.

The Chemist once again returned to her room, and looked at her clock. 5:00 PM _Another day has passed_

She had just sat on her bed, when the speaker sounded.

-"A body has been discovered…"-

Akane didn't hear the rest. She only had ears for the first words. _A body has been discovered? No, no! Not now! _She bolted out of her room, and looked around, trying to see where people could be gathering. She saw somebody run in the cafeteria area, so she went there. Nobody was there or in the kitchen, the storage or the pantry, so she left through the tunnel towards the second section.

After walking past the red door, she finally saw people gathered. They were all inside Monobear's office.

-"Wait! What's going on?!"- She screamed, entering the office, and pushed people aside until she saw the front. She gasped, and put her hands on her face.

Still sitting on the chair and face-down on the desk, with a screwdriver deep on the side of his neck, laid the dead body of Mishio Matsukaze, Super High School Level Detective

Well, there it goes.

* * *

**Sorry for how long it took compared to other chapters, people. I got back into college recently, so the updates may come slower now**


	12. Chapter 2 - Abnormal Days

Akane stopped looking at the dead body and instead looked at the rest of the graduates who were present. There wasn't a single one who wasn't horrified, but chances were that the culprit was between them. She also took a brief glance over the room, trying to see important evidence.

Chiba was in front of the desk, looking at the dead body with obvious grief. She held the tears and did a military salute, as if it were her way to say goodbye to a comrade, then she turned around so nobody would see her in such a vulnerable state.

-"Let's start. You, Ogata-kun, get a partner and start investigating around here. I'll get another team of two as well, the rest…"- she started walking around, pushing people out of the room and directing them to different areas. Akane stood there, not sure where to start or who to have as partner. The latter was solved a few seconds later.

-"You know what we must do now, don't you?"-

Toriumi had approached. -"And this time we don't have a professional detective to help us. Keep your eyes open"-

Akane nodded. The Chemist was about to walk over to the desk, when an odd noise resonated in the distance and the office shook. Toriumi looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Chiba instantly threw herself to the floor, and laid flat in there while covering her head and neck as well as she could.

-"What was that?"-

Toriumi shrugged. Toyogushi peeked into the office. -"Chiba-kun, Ogata-kun, Toriumi-kun, you have to see this!"- he urged. The three women reluctantly stepped out while Toyogushi paced around nervously. -"Hurry!"- he started running through the hall towards the room with the broken lockers.

-"What's so important"- Toriumi demanded.

-"We just heard an odd rumbling somewhere. What was it?"- Akane asked

-"I have heard that kind of noise before…was it…?"-

-"It was an explosion!"- he replied. Akane hollered surprised, and Toriumi looked like she definitely hadn't expected it. -"I'm serious! Something exploded in the lockers room!"-

-"That can't be true!"- Miyata had reached them.

-"I'm telling you it was! I was going to investigate somewhere else when...it just happened!"- Toyogushi made exaggerated gestures with his hands. It was clear he was in panic.

-"Don' make hasty conclusions. We'll know for sure after checking"- Toriumi was saying. Akane was thinking of something else. _Matsukaze's notebook! He had said it was in a locker over there!_ What if it was destroyed by the explosion? There would be no way for them to find the Mastermind.

The four finally got into the lockers room. Some of the graduates were already investigating. On a side of the room, a locker was completely obliterated. The rest were battered and charred. The room was small, yet only the lockers on one side were affected. _That wasn't a very strong bomb..._

**Explosion**

_Shortly after the body was discovered, a bomb exploded in the locker room._

-"Whoever did this better not have used what I think was used. If we end not having enough strength because some asshole wasted one of the bombs here, I swear somebody will be hurt"- Toriumi clenched her fists.

-"You know about them?"- Akane was sure she was talking about the bombs inside the Monobears.

-"What, the bombs? Of course I do! Now we won't all fit in this place if we all are in there at the same time. Go take a look, Ogata-kun. Show me how you fare. We'll wait here"-

-"Uuuh, actually, I'd like to enter too"- Miyata said meekly. Toriumi shut him up with a glare. Akane walked straight to the destroyed locker. She peeked inside it, and found several black hard pieces.

-"Those must be the rests of the bomb"- Hikasa had approached from the other side of the room -"It's obvious it was inside this locker, as it took the whole impact and kept it against the wall. No wonder the walls vibrated"-

**Rests of the Bomb**

_A few plastic pieces that once formed a round bomb. Believed to have been placed inside one of the lockers in the locker room_

-"Has any of you found anytjing in the other lockers?"- Akane asked. Hikasa got something out of his pocket.

-"This was inside one of the lockers over there"- he poined to the opposite side of the explosion. Akane took the object. It was an ID. When she turnd it on, she discovered it belonged to Matsukaze. She raised her eyebrows.

-"Is there anything near that needs one's ID to enter?"- the Chemist asked, remembering how Saitou's ID had a role in the past crime. Hikasa shook his head.

-"Nothing like that. I's odd that it's so far from the body"-

**Matsukaze's ID**

_Found inside a locker in the locker room. No idea why it was there_

-"What about a notebook? Did you find anything like that?"- Hikasa once again shook his head and was about to say something when Monobear appeared at the entrance.

-"So here is the rest!"- Monobear was impatient -"You lot haven't received my very useful file. Take this"-

**Monobear's File #2**

_Victim: Mishio Matsukaze_

_Time of Death: Around 5:15 PM_

_Cause of Death: Exsanguination_

_The death is believed to have taken a minute or two, despite there not being a significant blodd loss. There are no signs of use of drugs or anything else_

-"Also, there's nobody guarding the crime scene. What kind of pitiful investigators are all of you? Clearly not very good ones, upupupu"-

Toriumi ran towards Monobear's office. The bear continued. -"At this rate the culprit is going to be succssful. That would be a nice change! Finally the villain party is going to score"-

-"Shut up"- was all Akane said before running to the crime scene. _How could we leave it alone?_ The Chemist hoped that the culprit didn't tamper with it.

At first glance the room looked exactly as they had left it. Nothing seemed to have changed. -"We were careless. We can't let it happen again"- Toriumi said hoarsely. Akane spent some time trying to convince her that it was't her fault, but she rejected every word and insisted that they started investigating. The women approached the desk and looked around it.

-"Ths screwdriver undoubtedly killed him, but it can also tell other stuff. Take a look, Ogata-kun, and tell me what you see"- Toriumi indicated. Akane looked closer at the weapon and the gross wound, but saw nothing to report.

-"Uh, I'm not sure what is there to see…it's long and…yellow and…deadly"- she said. Toruimi rolled her eyes.

-"You really are very unobservant, Ogata-kun. Pay attention and listen to what I see"- Toruimi pushed Akane to the side and looked at the screwdriver for a few seconds, then took breath. –"From what I see, the killer must be left-handed. As you can see, the death wound is on the right side of his neck. No matter how I see it, there's no way for a right-handed person to deal such a blow"- the Private Tutor pulled the screwdriver out, spilling some blood around and making Akane wince –"I also can see a few scratches among the blood, near the tip. This screwdriver has been used for something rough. Other than that, it looks like it's new. And the last thing I see is that this screwdriver is very pointy. One wouldn't need a lot of strength to do serious harm with this"-

Toriumi finished her speech with an expression that clearly bragged about her superiority, which Akane understood very well.

**Screwdriver**

_The weapon used to kill Matsukaze. Long, thin and pointy. Found on the right side of Matsukaze__'__s neck_

Toriumi put back the screwdriver into Matsukaze's neck wound. Akane was freaked out by the Private Tutor's way to take the death so nonchalantly. The Chemist stepped away from the body, and focused on the desk. She saw two big dents on the surface, as if two really heavy spheres had been dropped on there from a certain height.

Keeping in mind the demonstration Toriumi had given, she examined closely the dents, trying to deduce something useful. Toriumi smirked, amused by the attempts to impress her.

-"Aren't you exaggerating, Ogata-kun?"- Toriumi said when Akane put her head on the desk to look better at the dents.

-"No, I can do this"- she kept examining closely the dents, trying to find out something. After a few minutes, she stood up straight.

-"So, what are the results?"-

Akane scratched her head sheepishly –"Absolutely nothing besides the fact that they're round and not very deep. Can you take a look and tell me what do you see?"-

-"There's nothing else to say. They're just dents, Ogata-kun. Look, you need to know when it would be a waste of time to look at something this closely. We don't have infinite time, Ogata-kun!"-

**Dents on the Desk**

_On the surface of the desk, towards the edge opposite to the body, there are two round dents._

-"How comfortable would you be with touching Matsukaze right now, my good friend?"- Toriumi smiled mockingly. Akane shuddered at the mere thought. –"Well, too bad. Do it. You never know what you may find. Register his pockets, at the very least"-

-"It's just that…it is icky, okay? I don't want to touch a dead body"-

Toriumi's glare made it clear that she wouldn't accept a no for an answer. Akane slowly approached Matsukaze, and carefully propped him against the chair, so the pockets of the shirt would be easily reachable, but first started with his pants. She put her hand in one of the pockets, and pulled out something. It was a rumpled cloth. The Chemist extended it, and noticed that it seemed to be a tie, or at the very least a piece of it. It was clear it had been ripped, judging by the ragged edges.

-"Interesting find, yes"- she heard Toriumi say softly. Akane paid more attention, and saw something near the neck. It was the rest of the tie, as it matched the colors and the material.

-"For some reason part of his tie was ripped violently and put in his pocket. Odd, because this seems to be a strong tie"- Akane verified what she had just said, and was happy to see it was true

**Ripped Tie**

_Most of Matsukaze__'s tie was ripped violently. Found in his pants pocket_

Akane continued checking the pockets, this time the one on the other side. She was kind of uncomfortable, but managed to find something more. It was a very odd object, white and curved, of a strange material.

-"Show me that"- Toriumi demanded and extended her hand. Once she had the object, she looked at it carefully. She pushed her glasses against her forehead –"Okay, I…I have no idea what this is"-

-"Could it be important?"-

Toriumi shrugged –"Beats me"-

**Strange Object**

_A cone curved to a point, completely white. Matsukaze had it in his pocket_

-"Don't forget his shirt. I can see from here there's something in it"- Toriumi pointed at the pocket. Akane searched through it, and found a small notepad. _Could this be__…? _She anxiously opened the notepad, but a quick glance made it obvious that it was completely empty, with the exception of two pages, and neither of them had any clue about the Mastermind. _This can__'t be the notebook he talked about__…right? Tell me it isn__'t a cruel joke._ She pushed aside these grim thoughts and focused on the pages that actually had content on them. She looked at the first one. It had a strange code written, of the type that would be used in computer programming.

-"If…whatever, then…kill…varying the place?"- she read aloud. Toriumi snatched the notepad from her hands.

-"Computer programming. I had never seen any like this, though"-

-"What is its function?"-

-"Hmmmmm…"- Toruimi took a minute to analyze the coding –"If I had to guess, if one says this word here…"- she pointed at 'Volkos' –"…one dies, and the way of dying depends of the place one is in"-

-"How would that work? It's just coding. A computer can't kill"-

-"Think, Ogata-kun. What in this shelter is practically an AI? Or do you expect us to be in virtual reality so we die in a lightning strike when it's said?"-

Of course. Monobear.

**Notepad: Coding**

_The computer coding jotted down in the first page of Matsukaze__'s notepad. It__'s theorized that it makes Monobear kills whoever says the word __'Volkos__'_

Akane then took a look at the second page. There was only one thing, written in big letters in the center. She showed it to Toriumi. –"It's that word again"-

**Notepad: ****'Volkos****'**

_Just that word written in the middle of a page._

-"But what does this word mean? I don't remember it being a meaningful word I any language. One would think it's Russian, but no, no meaning"- Toriumi was musing to herself. Akane left her do that while she looked around for more clues.

She was walking around the desk when she stepped on something. She lifted her foot and saw a piece of what looked to be debris. There was more under the desk. She crouched and pulled most of it. Everything was metallic; there were several wires and what looked like a satellite dish. She called Toriumi to take a look.

-"Now this is the most interesting clue I have seen so far"-

-"Why, it just looks like a bunch of junk"-

-" Ogata-kun, the Unobservant. That should have been your SHSL talent. Really, didn't you notice?"- Toriumi smirked once again. She clearly enjoyed being ten steps ahead of Akane. The Chemist was getting pretty tired of it, so she told the Private Tutor to say at once what she meant. –"When we came here the first time, I'd bet everything I owned that this wasn't here"-

-"Eh? You mean that…somebody tampered with the scene by dumping trash in here?"-

-"I doubt it's really trash. Take some of that junk with you, but the point is, this was put here while we were away during the whole explosion panic"-

Akane put some of the pieces in her lab coat pocket.

**Debris**

_Pieces of an unknown machine, lying under the desk. According to Toriumi, they weren__'t there when the body was discovered_

The ladies continued investigating until there was nothing else to check. None of them turned on the computer, there was nothing in the place with the spare Monobears, and they doubted that anybody entered behind the door with the keypad. They were about to leave when Monobear stepped in angrily, dragging…one of the spares

-"I can't believe any of you would do this to me. Leaving poor nice me just there, as if it were any trash…my feelings are very hurt"- Monobear made some dramatic gestures

-"What the hell are you talking about?"- Toriumi asked, crossing her arms.

-"I'm talking about this! I found this spare inside the library, and to make things worse, somebody tampered with it! Look at that!"- Monobear threw the spare at them. The belly plate fell to the floor, exposing what was inside. Between the wires and chips, there was a big round empty space. –"And look at this too"- he held one of the paws. There was one claw missing.

-"Who could have done this?"- Akane said. Monobear turned smug, as if it weren't a problem.

-"Oh, I know perfectly that the culprit is who did this. What kind of host would I be if I didn't know every detail that happened in this shelter? Except…"- Akane hurried him to continue –"Aaaaaagh, I don't get it! How did that Detective and the culprit get into my office without me noticing!? I have a lot of tricks yet they managed to sneak here"-

-"Details, now"- Toriumi demanded. Monobear laughed.

-"Upupupu, I wouldn't tell even if I knew it! But let me make this clear: I do know who killed the victim, so no worries. I'll know who to execute at the end of this!"- He left the office, laughing. Akane felt excited. She had noticed the meaning of one of the clues she had found.

-"Toriumi-san, look! This is actually the claw that is missing on the Monobear spare!"- she showed her the curved white object and how it matched with the rest of the claws. Toriumi nodded approvingly. She also added a detail she had remembered about the claws.

**Claw (update)**

_One of Monobear__'s claws, coming from a Monobear spare. Found in Matsukaze__'s pocket. It can open any electronic device, acting as some sort of keycard_

**Monobear Spare**

_One of the spares of Monobear. Found abandoned in the library without the bomb and without a claw_

-"Well, there isn't anything else to do in this crime scene. I'll go take a nap. See you at the trial, Ogata-kun"- Toriumi waved, and left Akane alone. She agreed that they had already found everything worthwhile in the office, so she went to talk to a few people to find out if they had ideas.

She stumbled upon Sakurai in the garden, tending the plants.

-"…no, I'm sure that I saw right. He's cornering all of us, how can he be so ruthless?"- He was whispering alone. Akane cleared her throat loudly; startling Sakurai and making him drop on his shoes the plant he was holding. –"Look what you did!"- He shouted

-"Sorry Sakurai-san, I was just wondering what you were talking about"- she apologized. Sakurai calmed down, and tried to avoid the topic, but Akane didn't do the same. She insisted.

-"If I tell you will you leave me alone?"- He asked, tired. Akane nodded. –"Okay, dear, don't think I'm crazy or anything, because I'm sure I saw what I saw. I saw…two Monobears! There are two of those damned bears going around in here!"-

-"It was just a spare found in the library, Sakurai-san. Nothing to worry about"- it looked like it was going to be senseless. Sakurai shook his head with energy.

-"What? No! The ones I saw were in the first area, not near the library. Just listen to me, okay?

I was there, going towards my bedroom after getting rid of some trash in the compactor, when I saw Monobear knocking on Hikasa's bedroom's door. A somewhat odd image by itself, yes, but when I turned around to not to interrupt them, I saw another Monobear entering the cafeteria. I'm not kidding there were really two!"-

-"Waaaaait…at what time did you see this?"-

-"It was almost five o'clock, I'm sure. But there's more. Around twenty minutes later, I saw Monobear entering the storage, but then I also saw Monobear coming out of the trash room. This is when I confronted him. I was all 'Hey you, what are you doing? How can you be in two places at the same time' but he didn't reply, not even with one of his lame responses. He just…went away. I ran to the storage and saw him harassing Yamaguchi-kun. He really was in two places at the same time!"-

Akane felt her eye twitching. To her the whole thing sounded like a senseless story, and Sakurai's tone and crazy expression didn't help either. She thanked him, and left the garden, but decided to at the very least remember what Sakurai had told her…just in case.

**Sakurai****'s Testimony**

_In the span of half an hour before the murder, Sakurai saw two Monobears at the same time__…twice. First entering Hikasa__'s room, while the other went to the cafeteria, the second time one going into the pantry, and the other into the trash room._

Akane went to look for Yamaguchi, and found her in the storage. However, what she told her about Monobear's harassment didn't help at all to enlighten anything. It was meaningless enough to be ignored and forgotten.

While going out of the storage, she bumped upon Yukio. After she apologized for it, he asked him if he had any clue or something that could help

-"I'm afraid not. I looked into the crime scene and found some stuff, but I'm sure you already found them all"- he started naming each evidence he had seen and indeed, Akane already had found all of them.

Akane was about to leave, when an idea came to her. Maaaaybe…Yukio could confirm anything about the whole thing with Monobear? What if he saw something? The Chemist asked him if he had seen anything odd about Monobear.

-"Well, now that you mention it…there's something. It was just after the dead body announcement. I was one of the three that found it, you know. Monobear had come to me and told me that there was a dead body in the office. I checked, and it was true, so I went to tell it to other people, and while I was in it, I saw Monobear coming out of the lockers room. He went near to me and I'm sure he saw me, yet he didn't say a thing. It's odd, normally when I encounter him he takes it as a chance to really make me mad"-

Akane wasn't expecting a different story, but it showed that there was something afoot with the whole Monobear matters. Akane thanked him.

-"You're welcome, and oh, one thing more. Monobear was carrying something…I didn't look for too long, but I think it was an ID. I should have followed him, but you know, there being a dead body and all I just didn't think about that idea"-

**Yukio****'s Testimony**

_Shortly after the murder, Yukio saw Monobear coming out of the lockers room. He had an object with him, possibly an ID_

**Monobear****'s Strange Behavior**

_The Monobear Sakurai and Yukio encountered __ generally acted different than normal towards us graduates_

Akane was tired from going around. It wasn't going to be long before the trial started, and she had no idea where else to search for clues, but in that moment she thought about the trash room. _Last time Sawashiro tried to get rid of evidence there. Maybe today__'s culprit did that too!_

She went towards the trash room, but the door was locked. –"What the…?"- She pulled and rattled the door, trying to open it.

-"Odd, isn't it? It has been closed for a while already. Yesterday in the night I tried to enter but it was locked"- Miyata approached after noticing Ogata trying to force open the door.

-"Monobear. It must have been him"- Akane screeched, calling the bear. Soon he obeyed.

-"What is it now, your highness?"-

-"Why did you lock this door?"-

-"It's always me, according to you people. Is it because I'm a bear? Does nobody like bears around here?"-

-"Let's go, Ogata-kun. It's clear he'll never give a straight answer"-Miyata gestured towards the Chemist, but Monobear did a theatrical gasp

-"Then I'm going to amaze you by answering with all the honesty I have: I didn't lock this door, although I should have done it after the medium tried to get rid of evidence. Unfair advantage, I say!"-

-"But how else could this have been locked if it wasn't you?"- She rattled the door again

-"Oh? It could have been anybody. After all, one of my keys is missing!"- Monobear was very pleased with how taken aback Akane was now –"Now if you excuse me, I have to go mess with a bunch of other suckers. Goodbye!"- He quickly left. As soon as the bear was out of sight, Akane kicked the door.

-"I'm betting it was the culprit! Who else would benefit from locking the door to the trash room? Surely he or she got rid of evidence and then locked this, just in case"- Akane muttered. Miyata looked doubtful

-"Then this was planned with a considerable amount of time. As I said, this was locked since yesterday"- he pointed. Akane took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The CEO continued –"Let's leave this room aside. I don't think it's related.

Akane sighed and nodded, and both left towards the cafeteria. The Chemist had no idea where else to go now, so she sat to wait until it was time for the trial. She decided to spend some time examining the pieces of debris that were found in the office. Was Toriumi right when she said they hadn't been there originally? Leaving that aside, what could these pieces form? Most were still in the office, so even if Akane managed to assemble what she had, she still wouldn't know

-"Ogata-kun? Uuuuuuh…listen…there's something I must tell you. I'm really sorry for…"- Miyata started. He fiddled with his hands, not sure how to continue. Akane tried to help him, but they were interrupted by Chiba.

-"Here you are! Toriumi told me that you had some debris"-

Miyata wasn't happy with the interruption. –"What the hell do you want? Can't you see we're busy?"-

Chiba glared at Miyata before turning her head to continue talking with Akane. –"Anyway, please let me see that. I think I know what this is"- Without waiting a reply, Chiba went ahead and took some of the debris. Much to Akane's surprise, she managed to piece together several of the pieces. Miyata had stopped frowning and now looked positively startled. –"Oh wow, I was right…"- she left what she had assembled, which was unrecognizable. It was obvious it was a part of a bigger machine.

Akane asked for an explanation, while Miyata just stared down. Chiba sat. –"These pieces and the rest in the office form a prototype of a signal interceptor the army was developing a few months ago. It was supposed to work as a machine that would intercept radio and infrared waves, and allowing one to send messages or manipulate electronics. This thing"- she pointed at the assembled piece –"is part of the main frame, but I'm completely sure it's part of the interceptor"-

-"How would you even know that?"- Miyata grumbled, still looking down

-"Because…eh…it was in my room since Day 1"- she confessed.

Akane raised her eyebrows. It seemed like a very convenient thing to have. That is, if there was something that could be intercepted. –"So you brought an army interceptor prototype here? It isn't the type of thing you go carrying around in your pocket"-

-"No! All I know is that when I woke up in my room, it was there. Not only that, there are other confidential prototypes that definitely shouldn't be here. I didn't bring any machines with me when I got here. And before you ask, no, none of them can be useful"-

-"It's yours, and it appeared on the crime scene. I'd say that's conclusive, don't you agree, Ogata-kun?"- Miyata said, almost indifferently. Chiba wasn't amused.

-"You idiot. I just revealed what it was and confessed it was mine. If I was the culprit, I wouldn't have said a thing"- she said, narrowing her eyes.

Miyata just shrugged. –"I was just testing your reactions. I'm not retarded, Chiba, I know you wouldn't have done this"-

_I__'m sure there are some in this shelter who would, Miyata-kun. Lab coat in crime scene, oh gee, Ogata is the culprit! _–"Any idea of why it's in the crime scene?"-

Chiba glanced down at the piece she had assembled. –"I gave it to Matsukaze-san"-Akane asked for an explanation. –"You see, this morning we were speaking, and I mentioned the stuff in my room. When I talked about the interceptor, he asked to me to give it to him. He didn't specify why he wanted it, but I was sure that it was going to be for good. I just…trusted him. He really was doing an effort to find the Mastermind"-

**Signal Interceptor**

_A machine that allows one to intercept and manipulate waves, belonging to Tomoe Chiba. Given to Matsukaze the morning of his death. Found destroyed in Monobear__'s Office_

**Remains of the Signal Interceptor (update)**

_Pieces of Chiba__'s signal interceptor. According to Toriumi, they weren__'t there before the explosion. When they returned to Monobear__'s Office, they were found under the desk_

In that moment, the speaker screeched, until Monobear's voice was heard coming from it. –"I'm getting bored already. We're going to start the trial now. Everybody go to the red door, and be ready for another showdown!"-

Akane couldn't avoid feeling nervous. –"Here we go again"-

-"Be strong, you two. We'll need bravery to cross the marsh of our uncertain future"- Chiba said, standing up. Miyata let out a 'meh', and left without saying another word.

Soon the Chemist was once again in the lobby before the courtroom. There was nervousness in the air, along with distrust, more than in the first trial. It's possible that since there wasn't an obvious suspect now, they couldn't just direct their bad behavior towards a specific person.

When the shutters to the courtroom opened, Akane suddenly remembered something. She really had forgotten to ask, and now it was the last chance…as she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mention it during the trial. She reached Hikasa, and stopped him before he entered.

-"Hikasa-san! Just a question: what exactly did you find in the lockers room? Any evidence?"-

-"Uuuuh…we already talked about this. I gave you that Detective's ID already, remember? You even asked about a notebook"-

_Oh, true _–"It's possible that we missed something, damn it"-

-"That's where you're wrong!"- the Weightlifter puffed his chest, proud –"I was the first to arrive there after the explosion, and I instantly started to search for anything that could help. And I can say, and be 100% sure of it, that there was nothing else besides the rests of the bomb and the ID"-

Akane let him go into the courtroom, and took a moment to think before entering. She supposed that if Hikasa had found Matsukaze's notebook about the Mastermind, he would have mentioned it…unless…Hikasa was the Mastermind? It could be true, right? As far as she knew, he hadn't been discarded.

Or maybe the notebook had been destroyed in the explosion. If it was close to the bomb when it exploded, then it would be ashes, right? She didn't really have any idea how it would look.

Soon she was alone in the lobby –"Hurry up! Stop lollygagging and go to your podium, I'm impatient to start this!"- Monobear shouted at her. She nodded, and ran to her place.

**Missing Notebook**

_Matsukaze had hid his notebook about the Mastermind in one of the lockers of the locker room, yet it was nowhere to be found. Could it have been destroyed or taken by somebody?_

-"Now that we're all here, let's get this rolling!"- The bear said cheerfully, and banged his gavel a few times. Akane looked at the rest of the graduates, who had varying degrees of willpower. One of them had killed the one person who was going to great lengths to find who was behind it all.

And she really was hoping they all would find the culprit…even without the Detective's help now.


	13. Chapter 2 - Trial I

-"So let's start this trial!"- Monobear jumped a few times, while nobody said a word. Everybody just looked around awkwardly, without daring to look at each other's eyes. Monobear slowly settled down. –"Eh? Eh? Eh? Come on, get the show on!"- Nobody said another word, but it wasn't because they didn't want to talk! –"What's wrong?! Why are there no accusations or wild finger pointing around here?! Remember that if the culprit isn't found, you'll die!"-

-"Uuuh…it is that…I don't know where to start…"- Sakurai said. There were several murmurs of agreement. Monobear slumped down and almost fell of his throne from the sheer disappointment. It was true, though. Without a suspect, no matter how flimsy the case was, everybody was clueless of where to start the trial.

-"You're all hopeless. I'll start getting ready the executions, plural word, notice it. At least SOMEBODY will have fun at the end of this ordeal"-

-"We're not going to die…are we?"- Chiba frowned.

-"No, we won't! We'll get over this…somehow"- Yukio had started to talk bashfully, but at the end his voice quieted down. Once again the room was silent.

-"This is moronic. Let's review all evidence one by one, if it is needed, but we must get somewhere, and we must do it quickly"- Reiji hit his podium, and started rambling about several pieces of evidence. He was interrupted when he noticed Toriumi bouncing a ball –"What are you doing? I'm talking!"-

-"So much for a Law Master. You can't even keep people's attention"- Yukio mumbled, while Reiji glared at him. Toriumi ignored them both, and spoke to everybody.

-"Let's play a little game while we're here, alright? We're going to throw this ball around, randomly. It'll keep our hands quick and our minds even quicker"- and without warning, she threw it to Toyogushi, who caught it effortlessly thanks to his keen reflexes.

-"We don't have time for child play, idiot"- Miyata said, with obvious dislike towards the Tutor. She just shrugged.

-"Oh hey! This does work! I just…I just remembered something!"- Toyogushi had gained a lot of enthusiasm, and had spit his gum –"I noticed something really curious in the Monobear File, and I don't really understand its meaning"- after being prompted to continue, he got the file out. –"Check here. Matsukaze died from exsanguination, right? But here it also says that he didn't bleed much through the screwdriver wound"-

-"Another wound. Mystery solved"- Miyata said with a condescending tone. Toyogushi shook his head zealously

-"Here it says that there was no significant blood loss. This guy exsanguinated while not losing blood. Is it crazy or what?"- he finished, really proud of himself.

-"Wow, he's actually right. I remember that the crime scene was relatively clean, there's really no way he lost his blood…"-

-"Maybe he was moved into the room"- Hikasa said. Toriumi nodded, but before she talked, Kudo piped up.

-"Here it says that his ID was found in the lockers room. I'd say he was killed in the lockers room, and then was dragged into the office"- he made gestures as if he were dragging the corpse. Toriumi took the chance to give her opinion

-"It's possible, but I don't think that's what happened. Nobody here saw blood anywhere besides the office, right? And I don't think the culprit had enough time to clean correctly, we found the body, at most, one hour after the death. Oh, and Matsukaze wasn't really a light person, either. Dragging him around should have left some sort of clue"-

-"So he died in the office, losing blood without losing it. Our progress so far is astounding"- Ginchiyo deadpanned. Toyogushi said a 'maybe if you catch this something will come to you' and threw the ball at her.

-"There must be something we can work with…Mastukaze-san. Maybe something he did caused his death"- Yukio theorized

-"Like looking for the Mastermind and actually doing progress? Because that was pretty much his only character point"- Curtis responded

-"In that case, maaaaaybe…the Mastermind himself or herself got its hands dirty and killed Matsukaze to protect his or her plans!"- Akane said what had been in her mind for a while already.

-"It's possible! Nobody else here really had a reason to kill him. We all wanted to get out of here, killing the one who was going to make it possible would have been practically a suicide"-Chiba clapped, satisfied with the explanation –"So if we solve this murder, we could find the Mastermind as well!"-

**Nonstop Debate**

_Signal Interceptor / Monobear Spare / Claw / Missing Notebook / Monobear's Strange Behavior_

CHIBA: **The Mastermind was the culprit** of this crime, I'm sure of it

TOYOGUSHI: But we don't have **the slightest idea **of who is the Mastemind

GINCHIYO: Something will come during this trial, I hope

TOYOGUSHI: But **there's nothing** that points that the Mastermind was involved

TOYOGUSHI: For all we know, **_Curtis killed him_** after he insulted his paintings

CURTIS: He-Hey, don't be ridiculous. Focus on the reality, please

TORIUMI: **Matsukaze was pretty close** to find the Mastermind

TORIUMI: **_He confronted the _bastard** and was killed in the process!

GINCHIYO: Or **_he had something t_**he Mastermind might have wanted

YUKIO: It's more likely that one of us killed him **_to get out of here._**

YUKIO: We didn't know how close he was to find the Mastermind…

YUKIO: …so the culprit could have killed him and doomed himself or herself

-"I agree with that!"- Akane yelled towards Ginchiyo. Then she took the claw from her lab coat pocket. –"This is one of the claws Monobear has. I remember that these can open certain doors and nobody under normal circumstances would have been able to. I think this is what the Mastermind could have been looking for"-

-"Oooh…right. Ogata-kun, then why do you have it? Are you the Mastermind?"- Toyogushi leaned forward.

-"Of course not! I found this in his pocket"-

-"In his pocket…then why didn't the Mastermind retrieve it? It's obvious it wasn't hidden, if you were able to just take it"- he pointed. Akane felt her confidence deflating. –"Nice try, but you should think twice before yelling dramatically"- he smiled kindly

_Damn it! This is not helping!_

-"So as I was saying before I was interrupted, the culprit could have…"-

-"No, wait! I do think that Ginchiyo is right. There's something that the Mastermind would have wanted.

-"If it is something that was found in the scene, Ogata-kun, then I'm telling you from now that you're most likely wrong"- Curtis replied. Akane shook her head.

-"I'm mentioning this precisely because it wasn't found in the crime scene. What's more…_it wasn't even found at all_

Akane told everybody about Mastukaze's notebook, where he had put it, and what he had told her about it.

-"So that's why you were so insistent about the stuff found in the lockers room. You wanted to know if the notebook was there"- Hikasa said, and the Chemist confirmed it

-"I think that definitely settles that the Mastermind was the one behind this all"- Toyogushi said, and several of the graduates agreed with him.

-"Now the big deal is to point who the Mastermind is. If we miss, then we all die"- Miyata said gloomily. This lowered most people's panache.

-"I think that we don't need to say a concrete name. We could just say that the Mastermind did it and we would be right!"- Yamaguchi pointed. Monobear instantly jumped forward.

-"Ah no, you won't! You'll need to give a clear and concise answer to the big question. I can't execute a concept such as 'mastermind'!"-

-"Then I'm going to solve this conundrum by answering who killed Matsukaze AND who we'll mark as the culprit"- Toriumi said, with a smirk. It was clear that whatever she was going to say now was something she had full confidence on. –"The Mastermind killed Matsukaze, buuuut…this person didn't do it with its own hands"-

-"Are you saying he manipulated somebody into killing the Detective?"- Toyogushi asked, surprised.

-"Why to do that when you got a puppet already? What I'm saying is that _Monobear_ was the one who killed Matsukaze!"-

Her words caused uproar in the courtroom. They had never expected her to accuse the bear himself. Monobear didn't seem too impressed, though. He laughed loudly, and proclaimed: -"This is amazing! Somebody had the guts to accuse me as a culprit! I was wondering if my picture in the slot machine would be there for nothing"-

-"Oh, I'm not saying you did it…willingly"-

-"Eh?"- he feigned confusion.

-"I found quite a curious writing in a notepad Matsukaze had in his pocket. It depicts a code, and from what I see, it makes you kill anybody who says a concrete keyword"- she started passing the notepad around, so everybody could see what she meant.

-"Wow, this is really complex, Toriumi-kun. How did you find out what this meant?"- Yukio complimented, truly impressed

-"I had to teach advanced programming to one of my pupils, and I always do an extensive investigation before even uttering a word about the matter. I'm THE Private Tutor"- she replied haughtily.

-"What does this word here mean? Volk…"- Curtis started saying. Toriumi lost her composure for a moment, yelling really aloud –"No! Stop!"-. When Curtis looked at her, stunned, she cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses and hair pins.

-"No, none of you say that word. In the second page you can see the word itself, but what matters is that it's the keyword that will make Monobear kill"- she looked at the bear, just in time to see him retracting his claws. Very few noticed it

-"I think I understand what you're implying. You're saying that Matsukaze uttered the word and then Monobear killed him because of that. Did I get it right?"- Toyogushi said, trying to check if his thoughts were following the Tutor's thoughts. She nodded.

-"That's exactly what I'm saying"-

-"But why would he say…Vorudemōto to Monobear? Was he confronting the robot using that word?"- Hikasa said, while everybody stood in silence at what he just had called the keyword. A snicker was heard, which soon turned into a full laugh. Yamaguchi was the one doing this ruckus, which was the first sincere expression of joy anybody in the shelter had heard in a while

-"Are we…ahahaha…are we going to refer to the keyword as 'that person'? Hikasa-san, I had no idea you even liked those book series!"- She continued laughing. Hikasa mumbled a '…I liked the books, okay?"-, before the rest forced them to focus back into the trial.

-"Call it Vorudemōto if you want, but focus"- Curtis said, stifling a laugh too –"So, that was on Matsukaze's notebook. How did he even get access to Monobear's programming? Did he take the bear and dismantle him? I doubt there's a manual around"-

-"I think I know how he found out about this. I noticed that there's a computer in Monobear's Office, which he used to put those two new rules in place. It's possible that Monobear's programming is in it as well"-

-"Supposing it won't get us anywhere, but I'll have to agree it seems possible"- Sakurai mulled

-"I can support my idea, Sakurai-kun"-

Explosion

Rests of the Bomb

Matsukaze's ID

Monobear's File #2

Screwdriver

Dents on the Desk

Ripped Tie

Notepad: Coding

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Claw

Monobear Spare

Sakurai's Testimony

Yukio's Testimony

Monobear's Strange Behavior

Signal Interceptor

Remains of the Signal Interceptor

Missing Notebook

**Claw**

-"Matsukaze-san had this object in his pocket. Later we found out that this is one of Monobear's claws. They have a quality: opening doors that aren't normally accessible for us"-

-"I remember! Monobear had to open the bedroom door so we could find Saitou-kun's body"- Yamaguchi said

-"And I think that I had seen Monobear using his claw on the computer tower in his office…"- Curtis added.

-"That's exactly what I mean! Matsukaze-san used the computer, using the claw"-

-"And he got the claw from one of the spares in the room, right?"- Miyata asked

-"It was from a spare, but not from any spare. It was from this one"- Akane showed the spare that the real Monobear had found in the library. Sakurai gasped aloud.

-"Oh! Oh! Oh! I see! Of course!"- he continued gasping as if he couldn't breathe. Kudo hurried to do the Heimlich maneuver to the Good Luck student, in an effort to help. His only reward was being pushed down. –"Leave me alone! It is that the explosion points even more to Monobear being the culprit! The bomb came from him, right? Monobear gutted himself and used one of the bombs, and then went to die to the library"-

His face shone as if he had discovered something amazing, but it was already obvious to most, sans the whole 'Monobear gutted himself' part. Curtis humored Sakurai. –"Yes, bud, that's right. This does hint more mingling from Monobear. It all is showing there's something behind it all. The faulty information in his file, the coding and the bomb…all of this is pointing towards Monobear!"-

-"Who has the ball? Ginchiyo, throw it!"- Toriumi urged. Ginchiyo shrugged and threw it at Kudo, who started bouncing it.

-"So it's settled! We're going to watch Monobear execute himself!"- Yukio said cheerily

-"He'll just use a spare from now on, surely"- Hikasa pointed

-"Yeah, he will, but at least we'll get the satisfaction to see his death, even if it is just temporal"- the Assistant's eyes gleamed with joy. Other graduates also enjoyed the thought. It was going to be their time to get back at Monobear for locking them in the shelter.

Akane joined the schadenfreude party, too, but then a thought crossed her mind. Monobear didn't seem upset at all, as if he had been found. He was fully relaxed, watching the trial with interest. This gave the Chemist a bad feeling. _What if at the end…he didn't do it? Or what if the Mastermind didn't do it either? It's a long shot but…_ She started to mentally remember every piece of evidence, trying to see if they had missed something important. If she didn't see anything, then she could vote for the bear without any guilt, but before that…

…and she found it. It wasn't entirely conclusive, but it would throw a serious wrench into the whole 'Monobear did it' idea

-"Guys, stop! I think that Monobear didn't do it!"- She shouted. The short-lived joyous atmosphere faded, and was soon replaced by looks of annoyance.

-"But who else would have done it, Ogata-kun? Nobody else fits as well as Monobear!"- Reiji said, glaring at Akane

-"Everything is pointing towards him"- Toyogushi commented –"I'm completely sure he killed the Detective to cover his own tracks, coding or not"-

-"No, please, listen to me. It's true that a lot of the evidence points towards him, but I think we're rushing. There are others that aren't completely clear, we should take our time and…

**I OBJECT TO THAT**

Akane looked at the ceiling, exasperated. Yukio had gotten of his podium, and was now advancing to the center, always pointing towards Akane. –"Your conjectures can only get you so far, Akane Ogata. These claims won't stand on the court without some evidence as your base. Now that you volunteer to be Monobear's attorney, then I'll have to bring on you the whole weight of the law"- he ran to the nearest podium and slammed his fist on it, causing the occupant to jump, startled.

Akane couldn't avoid being baffled at Yukio's newfound attitude. _He must be really sure of Monobear's guilt if he's going to act like this _–"Alright, I'll follow your game"-

-"Now it's time to settle the conditions. You have one single chance, or your words will be stricken from the record and we'll go straight to the voting. One chance to convince me and the rest that there's reasonable doubt about Monobear's guilt. Will you accept these conditions?"-

-"Those conditions wouldn't even fit in a real court"- she replied, sourly. Yukio laughed, confident.

-"You have no idea if my influence. Now, do you accept?"-

_I don't really have more option _–"I do"-

-"Then let's do this. Listen to our words, members of the jury, and do the right judgment!"-

**Rebuttal Showdown**

_Monobear File #2 / Monobear's Strange Behavior / Screwdriver / Sakurai's Testimony / Explosion_

YUKIO: Monobear is the culprit of this crime

YUKIO: He found the victim snooping around the office…

YUKIO: …and was really enraged

YUKIO: The victim then confronted Monobear!

YUKIO: Made clear that he knew who the man behind the animal was!

YUKIO: And so that's the motive behind this crime

YUKIO: A coward covering his ways behind our actual predicament!

OGATA: A motive isn't enough to label him as the culprit

OGATA: If you want me to mention evidence, you should do it too

YUKIO: Unlike you, I do have evidence!

YUKIO: But first I'll tell you all what happened

YUKIO: The victim **sneaked into the office**…

YUKIO: …and **messed with the computer**

YUKIO: Monobear found him and **the victim confronted him**

YUKIO: At some point the victim **mentioned the forbidden word**…

YUKIO: …and **Monobear killed him**! Easy as that!

YUKIO: Then in an effort to distract us all…

YUKIO: …he **staged an explosion**, using his own bombs

YUKIO: His contradictions indicate that he has something to hide!

Akane thought for a moment, and then laughed to herself. It wasn't really a strong argument, yet he looked so confident…but she had seen an opening, and now was going to attack with one single piece of evidence.


	14. Chapter 2 - Trial II

-"Yukio-kun, you're so wrong!"-

-"We'll see, after you present your evidence. Remember, you only have one single chance"- he reminded this little fact. Akane laughed, and took her turn to do her own reminder.

-"So need I remind you what the weapon of the crime was?"-

-"Uuuuuh…"- that wasn't what Yukio had expected –"A screwdriver. What about it?"-

-"Now, take a look at it. Quite a thin object, eh? Now tell me this:_ how would Monobear have the dexterity to stab with that screwdriver, or even grab it?__"-_

-"Aaaaah…oh! I don't…"- Yukio looked again at the screwdriver. At the end, he sighed, defeated. –"Alright, alright, I have no idea if it is even possible"-

-"Look at him! Not even a thumb, and the fingers, let's call them fingers, aren't even long enough to grab the screwdriver with enough dexterity to stab. It's senseless to suppose that he killed Matsukaze-san with it!"-

-"But what about the rest of the evidence? Are they worth nothing, then?"- Kudo asked, upset.

-"They're valid evidence. They just…may not mean what we thought they meant"- Hikasa replied without enthusiasm. Toriumi wasn't completely convinced, though

-"The screwdriver isn't a big deal. We can't even guarantee it was the object that killed Matsukaze. And before you say a thing, Ogata-kun, no, nothing says that it was. Monobear's file doesn't specify what the weapon was, and we all supposed it was the weapon because we found it on the Detective's neck. Something else could have been the weapon, something like…the bear's claws. You did jack shit, Ogata-kun. Feeling happy now?"-

-"You can't just dismiss the screwdriver! Until something else is found, we'll have to take it as the weapon"- Akane insisted, starting to feel uneasy. If the screwdriver got ignored, then they all would start voting for Monobear, and if he wasn't the culprit then…it'd all be over.

-"I think that we should leave the weapon aside, and go straight to the voting. There's nothing else to do now. Pass me the ball, Kudo-san"- Yamaguchi received the ball

-"I don't doubt that Monobear is the killer, but maaaaaaybe…"- Kudo scratched his head sheepishly –"Maaaaaaaybe we should continue, just for a while more. To make sure we have everything straight"-

-"Waste time if you wish to. I'm going to stay aside of this"- Curtis notified, taking off his beanie hat

-"Let's check the evidence again, to see how everything fits"- Ginchiyo took the lead in the new discussion by browsing through the evidence she had heard of –"What is this about a broken machine in the scene?"-

-"It seems like a broken slot machine to me"- Miyata said

-"You already forgot what it was, Miyata-kun?"-

* * *

Explosion

Rests of the Bomb

Matsukaze's ID

Monobear's File #2

Screwdriver

Dents on the Desk

Ripped Tie

Notepad: Coding

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Claw

Monobear Spare

Sakurai's Testimony

Yukio's Testimony

Monobear's Strange Behavior

Signal Interceptor

Remains of the Signal Interceptor

Missing Notebook

* * *

**Signal Interceptor**

* * *

-"It's a signal interceptor. Chiba-san herself came to us and told us what it was"- Akane continued

-"I know, I know! I was feigning ignorance to see who would say a thing, Ogata-san, which by the way, you ruined, dumbass"-

Akane couldn't avoid looking away. –"…oh."-

-"But what about a signal interceptor? How did Chiba-san know it was that?"-

-"Because it was hers. She had it all this time"- Miyata replied. The attention shifted to Chiba, who was very uncomfortable

-"You have some explaining to do, dear. What is going on with you?"- Sakurai demanded an answer. Chiba gulped, and started talking about how when she woke up, it was already in her room, along other army prototypes. She also added that she had given it to Matsukaze that morning.

-"…I told him about the interceptor because I trusted him, so he asked me to use it. I had asked what he was going to do, but he refused to go into details. But he was a good man, I know it!"- She finished her speech. Opinions in the court were mixed. Some believed Chiba's words and took them at face value, but others were reluctant to accept it, Sakurai among them.

-"I think this makes Chiba-san a suspect too. She broke the signal interceptor to avoid us linking it to her!"-

-"What? But I was the one who told Ogata-kun and Miyata-kun about what it was, in the first place!"- She protested.

-"It's all a strategy. You broke it, and then told us what it was, so you could seem like an innocent person!"- Sakurai was pointing at her now. Miyata groaned theatrically

-"Looks like at the end there was really somebody retarded enough to think that"- Sakurai ignored what the CEO had said

-"But I'm not sure what Matsukaze could use that interceptor for. I do have a few theories, but all of them are really bad"- Akane said, pensive

-"I think we may be getting sidetracked. What Matsukaze was doing with the interceptor isn't important. What's important is who killed him!"- Yukio reminded everybody.

-"So there's a chance that Monobear isn't the culprit, right? Then who is it?"- Toyogushi asked

-"Let's reach a middle ground: Monobear didn't do it, but the Mastermind isn't in the clear yet. Let's say that the Mastermind killed Matsukaze with his or her own hands!"-

-"Sounds good enough to me, Ogata-kun, but then enlighten everybody: who is the Mastermind?"- Toriumi asked the big question. While Toriumi instructed Kudo to pass it to Hikasa, Akane took a moment to think, while some of the other graduates looked around suspiciously. They could say that the Mastermind was the culprit, but without a concrete name, it was doubtful Monobear would allow it.

* * *

**Nonstop Debate**

_Claw / Sakurai's Testimony / Remains of the Signal Interceptor / Yukio's Testimony / Screwdriver_

* * *

REIJI: I think it'd be easier to say who the Mastermind isn't

REIJI: By example! Neither my brother nor I are the Mastermind

TORIUMI: Everybody is going to say "No, it isn't me"

TORIUMI: Now, we all agreed Matsukaze **died because of the notebook**

TORIUMI: How did the Mastermind know about it?

GINCHIYO: Maybe **_Matsukaze-kun told the Mastermind_** by accident?

MIYATA: That would be suicidal! It must have been some other way

TORIUMI: If only we knew for sure **what Matsukaze was planning to do**…

TORIUMI: Then we could get somewhere

CURTIS: It's more important to know why he was in Monobear's Office

YAMAGUCHI: **He was using the computer**. The claw tells it

REIJI: He could have met somebody in there

REIJI: You know, besides Monobear

CHIBA: **The interceptor was undoubtedly involved**

CHIBA: Why else would it have been destroyed and left there?

CURTIS: Damn it! We can't get anywhere without a clear idea of what he was doing!

* * *

Akane had her mind blank, while trying to reach a conclusion from the graduates' words. However, two phrases stood out.

_…if only we knew for sure what Matsukaze was planning to do__…_

_…the interceptor was undoubtedly involved__…_

It could be that…maybe one of the odd things she had heard during the investigation had an explanation? While the rest argued between themselves, Akane struggled to remember.

_Come on, Akane, you need to think of something. I do have the nagging feeling I know a possible way to continue, but damn, what was it?_

* * *

…something Akane saw before the murder

…something Akane heard before the murder

…something Toriumi saw during the investigation

…something among the evidence

…something Akane heard during the trial

* * *

**…something Akane heard before the murder**

* * *

-"Oh yeah! Guys, I remembered something. I think I may know who the last one to see Matsukaze-san was. I'm not completely sure, but there is a chance I'm right. Hey you! Did you, by any chance, talk to Matsukaze-san before his death?"- She got ready to mention the name of the person she was thinking about.

* * *

Akane Ogata

Chihiro Toriumi

Masashi Sakurai

Aya Sawashiro

Mika Yamaguchi

Reiji Ohmoto

Mishio Matsukaze

Saburou Hikasa

Kaiji Kudo

Ginchiyo

Masaru Miyata

Hoshio Saitou

Takeshi Toyogushi

Yukio Ohmoto

Ian Curtis

Tomoe Chiba

* * *

**Saburou Hikasa**

* * *

-"Hikasa-san, please confirm something: did you talk to Matsukaze-san, at all, today?"-

-"Eeeeh…it's hard to not to talk to somebody, you know. There isn't much to do in here"- he replied, evasive

-"And what did you two talk about? And when, for that matter?"-

-"Last time we talked was yesterday, so sorry, can't help with that"- was his reply

Akane rubbed her chin, musing about what she knew. It was just a hunch, but she was pretty sure Hikasa was lying. What she couldn't see yet is why was he lying? Is he the Mastermind? Is he the culprit? Is there any other reason?

-"Hikasa-san, I think you did talk to Matsukaze. In fact, I may even guess…you talked to him in Monobear's Office"- she said slowly

Hikasa laughed nervously, while others instantly asked Akane why she was saying that. She replied: "Look, we can all agree that Matsukaze-san was using the interceptor for something, right? Now, I'm saying that he used it to summon Hikasa-san to meet him"-

-"How? Intercepting the speakers?"- Toriumi asked

-"No, that isn't it. I heard nothing through the speakers. Besides, it's way too public, people would wonder why and how Matsukaze-san was calling for somebody through the speakers"- Curtis replied, shrugging

-"Weren't you going to stay away of the discussion?"- She spat, condescendingly. The Artist once again shrugged

-"Then how? How did Matsukaze-san call Hikasa-kun?"- Yamaguchi inquired

* * *

Explosion

Rests of the Bomb

Matsukaze's ID

Monobear's File #2

Screwdriver

Dents on the Desk

Ripped Tie

Notepad: Coding

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Claw

Monobear Spare

Sakurai's Testimony

Yukio's Testimony

Monobear's Strange Behavior

Signal Interceptor

Remains of the Signal Interceptor

Missing Notebook

* * *

**Monobear Spare**

* * *

-"I don't really have a way to confirm it, but if I had to suppose, the Interceptor was used to control a Monobear spare"- she stated

-"Wow! Controlling the bear himself? Matsukaze really had some balls!"- Curtis was very surprised to hear Akane's words. Yamaguchi, remembering she still had the toy in her hands, threw it to Hikasa

-"Is that what he did? Monobear, can you even be intercepted?"- Toyogushi looked at Monobear, waiting for an answer

-"Are you really that interested on me? I'm flattered, but I'm not responding to that!"-

-"Come on, it's for the trial. And you're the only one who can answer"- Toyogushi smiled meekly, then added –"Besides the interceptor has been destroyed. You're not in danger of being intercepted"-

-" I do know it's an interceptor, and I could assemble the pieces, but I won't be able to make it work. But I do know that he does work with waves. When I disassembled a spare, I found receptors that…"- Chiba started rambling about the mechanics of waves and how she thought Monobear worked. The Private Tutor cleared her throat rudely, interrupting her.

-"I think it's enough. Remember the coding on the notepad? I'm completely sure it came from the computer, there's no other place it could be useful. So, we could say there's a chance that the files in the computer are what are giving Monobear its actual behavior and protocols"- Toriumi mused.

-"But this place is full of concrete! Look at those walls! No wave would be able to get through it"- Sakurai countered

-"What do you want me to say? I didn't make Monobear. For all we know I'm wrong and there's a hamster controlling him from his head"- she replied caustically

-"So which Monobear was Matsukaze-san controlling?"-

_Hmmmmm__…I can__'t be completely sure, but I__'d say Matsukaze controlled__…_

* * *

_…the main Monobear_

_…the spare found in the library_

_…some other spare_

_…all of the Monobears_

* * *

**_…the spare found in the library_**

-"I think it was the Monobear spare that was found in the library. There's something that does show that it's very likely Matsukaze-san was involved with it"-

* * *

Explosion

Rests of the Bomb

Matsukaze's ID

Monobear's File #2

Screwdriver

Dents on the Desk

Ripped Tie

Notepad: Coding

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Claw

Monobear Spare

Sakurai's Testimony

Yukio's Testimony

Monobear's Strange Behavior

Signal Interceptor

Remains of the Signal Interceptor

Missing Notebook

* * *

**Claw**

* * *

-"The spare in the library had a claw missing. If the claw in Matsukaze-san's pocket belongs to this spare, then maybe it's also the one he controlled"-

-"Suppositions, suppositions…"- Toriumi sighed, and signaled Hikasa to throw the ball to anybody. Sakurai was the next to hold the toy –"But I think we're straying from something you said earlier, Akane-kun. You assured us that Hikasa did talk to Matsukaze shortly before his death, but you haven't provided a shred of anything that could support it."- Hikasa almost hid behind his podium, as if he had hoped anything related to him had been forgotten.

-"Uuuuh…well…you see, I once talked to Matsukaze, and he told me this…

_-"I'm sorry Ogata-kun, I didn't mean to scare you"- he said, holding his hands to his chest. Akane murmured a 'it's okay'. –"Have you seen Hikasa? I need to talk to him urgently about the Mastermind"-_

_-"No, I haven't seen him. Maybe he's in his bedroom. How has your investigation been going so far?"- Akane asked_

_-"Excellent. I have narrowed the possibilities to only two graduates"- he refused to say more._

…so yeah…"-

-"It does show he had the intention to talk to Hikasa-san, but it doesn't mean he was able to do it"- Reiji pointed.

-"But there's something that shows that Matsukaze-san did really reach out to Hikasa-san"-

* * *

Explosion

Rests of the Bomb

Matsukaze's ID

Monobear's File #2

Screwdriver

Dents on the Desk

Ripped Tie

Notepad: Coding

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Claw

Monobear Spare

Sakurai's Testimony

Yukio's Testimony

Monobear's Strange Behavior

Signal Interceptor

Remains of the Signal Interceptor

Missing Notebook

* * *

**Sakurai's Testimony**

* * *

-"During the investigation I was told a really odd and frankly stupid story: there were two Monobears activated at the same time, and one of them was seen entering Hikasa-san's room. What if the Weightlifter was in his room? Then Matsukaze-san could have asked to meet him"-

-"Eugh, two Monobears? Who told you that?"- Reiji asked. Akane looked at Sakurai, who made a muttered 'what, shouldn't I have done that?"

-"Of course. A stupid story came from him"- Miyata said with obvious disdain

-"Leave him alone and focus, alright? So, Hikasa, did you meet with Monobear in your room? Did he ask you to go to the office?"- Yamaguchi inquired, leaning forwards. Hikasa turned red and stammered.

-"Well…no, such thing didn't happen. I wasn't in my room whenever that happened"- he replied with great hurry.

-"He says he didn't meet him. Now what?"- Chiba was very curious as to what the Chemist would do now. However, the Weightlifter didn't let Akane continue

-"You! Do you think I'm the culprit or what? Do you think that I killed him?"- he yelled towards Akane, anxious

-"Wait, no, I haven't said such thing…"- while she raised her arms defensively, Hikasa stepped back from his podium, sweating

-"Wait, guys, I remembered something"- Sakurai's eyes were filled with realization –" The Monobear I saw visiting Hikasa-san's bedroom didn't open the door with his claw. He had knocked. The door opened from the inside, and then Monobear entered"-

-"So somebody was in your room after all, Hikasa. And seeing how the whole ID business works, I find it hard to believe it was any other than you"- Toriumi said coldly

-"Guuuh…oooogh…"- the Weightlifter grunted, trying to restrain himself from he took a few deep breaths, he talked –"Okay, okay, I did talk to Monobear in my room. But it wasn't even the spare Monobear! It was the real one, yes"-

-"Can you confirm this?"- Toriumi looked at the bear, expecting an answer. He shook his head.

-"Not saying a thing"- he replied with a mischievous tone

-"I'm finding it hard to believe. The real Monobear wouldn't need to knock on the door to enter"- Chiba commented.

-"I don't give a flying fuck of what you think, Chiba. If I say it, then it's what I say happened. And it did happen! That's what happened"-

-"C-Calm down, Hikasa-san"- Miyata had no trace of disdain in his face. It was all worry, although one couldn't see if it was towards Hikasa or towards his own safety if the Weightlifter exploded in panic

-"And even if I talked to Monobear, it means nothing. I didn't even go to the office! It's all supposition, and it's wrong"-

-"You're making this embarrassing for all of us, Hikasa-san"- Kudo said monotonously

-"It's that she, it's she, she's thinking I'm in middle of all this. It's all her fault!"- he pointed to Akane. She was starting to be baffled by his behavior.

_What does he have to hide? Why is he acting so__…fidgety? If he met with Matsukaze-san, then why not to say it? Is he the culprit? Or the Mastermind?_

_Come on, Hikasa-san, let__'s try to get this in order__…_

* * *

**Panic Talk Battle: Saburou Hikasa**

Stop, I beg you!

You don't know what you're doing!

It's for the better

No! Enough!

It's the bear, the bear!

I didn't talk to the victim

Stop badgering me!

Can't you see how wrong this is?

No! Hold it back!

I just…I just can't say it

_I didn__'t talk to Matsukaze-kun. I never was in the office!_

**Ripped Tie and Dents**

* * *

-"There were two odd things I noticed when I checked the office: some odd dents on the desk, and Matsukaze-san's ripped tie. Now I realize that both can have one explanation: both can only be done by somebody with a great deal of strength. And of us all here, you're the strongest one, Hikasa-san"-

-"He's a Weightlifter, so no surprise. I doubt anybody else would have enough strength to dent wood like it happened back there"- Toriumi commented, pushing her glasses back

-"So, will you admit you were there, Hikasa-san?"-Miyata waited for a reply. Hikasa gritted his teeth and held a cry of frustration. He finally took another deep breath, and with his voice filled with obvious anxiety, he admitted it.

-"Alright. Okay, I was there. Matsukaze did really call me through Monobear, and I did go to the office. We did talk"-

-"What? And why didn't you say that before? Are you the culprit, perhaps?"- Curtis asked

-"Does none of you notice? I'm a dead man now. I broke a rule: I entered Monobear's office without his permission, and we all should know that breaking Monobear's rules will get you a sure death"- he said bitterly

-"What? Why didn't I know about this?!"- Several graduates were surprised to see that Monobear didn't know a thing either of what Hikasa had done. Until that moment, it seemed like he had known everything that had happened in the shelter, but now there were two things he hadn't heard of: Hikasa's entering and Matsukaze's entering.

Akane couldn't avoid feeling really guilty. If she hadn't pushed so much, there was a chance that Hikasa's rulebreaking would have gone unnoticed for everybody. Chances were that it would have been found out either way, but now that it had been revealed, it meant his death.

-"I'll deal with you once the trial is over, Hikasa-kun. And don't think I have forgotten your own bad behavior, Ogata-kun. You entered the office without permission too"- he was talking with clear menace in his voice, and for once Akane felt intimidated by the bear

-"Let's…let's focus, alright? So Hikasa-san, why don't you tell us what happened in the office?"- Toriumi asked, and told Sakurai to pass the ball. Now Chiba had received it

* * *

**Nonstop Debate**

Signal Interceptor / Screwdriver / Missing Notebook / Ripped Tie / Monobear's File #2

* * *

HIKASA: I was in my room when Monobear came to me

HIKASA: He…Matsukaze-kun told me he needed to talk

HIKASA: **I followed the spare bear** to the office. He was there

KUDO: What was he doing?

HIKASA: He was writing something **in his notepad**

HIKASA: We talked about our suspicions…

HIKASA: He asked me if Vorudemōto meant anything for me

TOYOGUSHI: Did you see the interceptor?

HIKASA: He had it **_right there on the desk_**

HIKASA: After we were done talking, I quickly left the office

YUKIO: I expected more detail from you, Hikasa-san…

HIKASA: There isn't much to say. **The meeting was civil and peaceful**

* * *

-"You got that wrong!"-

Hikasa glared at Akane, as if he wanted her dead right there. Akane was sure that it was mostly because she had brought into the light his rulebreaking, and now was meddling into his story. However, she gathered courage and continued. –"I really doubt it was as peaceful as you say it was"-

-"Can't you stop doubting everything I say? Wasn't it enough to kill me?"- The rancor in his voice was chilling

-"Oh…sorry…I'm just going to leave this tie here…"- the Chemist put it on her podium

-"That isn't even a complete tie, but it's also stylish. Is this the ripped tie you had mentioned it earlier?"- Yamaguchi asked, trying to see better the tie on Akane's podium. Then without warning, she grabbed it and started to wring it. –"It's also of great quality! You'd really need some strength to do this to one of these ties"-

-"I don't know what you may think, Hikasa-kun, but ruining somebody's clothes doesn't sound civil or peaceful to me"- Ginchiyo sighed. Hikasa lowered his gaze

-"Okay, I lost control…once. But the rest of time I really was civil!"-

-"And what exactly did he say that made you do that? Did he accuse you of being the Mastermind?"- Kudo inquired. Hikasa growled

-"No. He…he…he accused Ginchiyo of being the Mastermind"-

Ginchiyo stifled a laugh, surprised. –"Me? Why would he think that?"-

-"He never went into detail. All he did was ask me for information about everything you had said or done in the shelter"-

-"Well, I'm not the Mastermind, that's for sure"-

-"That's what I told him, after I grabbed his tie and almost pummeled his face into a pulp. I contained my rage and said "Ginchiyo is an angel and wouldn't do such a thing as locking us in this hellhole". He struggled and…well, you know what happened to the tie. That's also how the dents on the desk happened; I hit it hard"-

Ginchiyo looked genuinely touched by Hikasa's past outburst, while Akane didn't know what to think. It didn't sound romantic or necessary. Pushing aside those thoughts, she called for Hikasa's attention

-"Yeah, leaving that aside, what else is there to say? What did Matsukaze say through Monobear when he visited you in your room?"-

-"Hmmmm…"- Hikasa laid his chin on his hand, thinking –"Not much. She asked me to put my ID in the lockers room and go into Monobear's office. That was it"-

-"Eh? Why did he ask you to leave your ID in there?"-

-"Beats me. I thought it was strange, but he didn't reply when I asked. I just went along with it"-

_Matsukaze told Hikasa to leave his ID in the lockers room__…knowing the Detective, there must have been a reason behind this, but what was it?_

_What would one gain by doing that?_

_Focus, Akane__…_

* * *

**Logic Dive**

#1: What did Matsukaze leave in the lockers room, related to his instructions?

-The missing notebook

-A bomb

-His own ID

* * *

**His own ID**

* * *

#2: What did Hikasa and Matsukaze have in common?

-Neither of them were able to hijack Monobear

-Neither of them were detected by Monobear

-Both of them were punished by Monobear

* * *

**Neither of them was detected by Monobear**

* * *

#3: If there's a relation between the IDs and Monobear, what could it be?

-Monobear spies the graduates through the IDs

-The IDs are to control Monobear through the computer

-Monobear has his own ID

* * *

**Monobear spies the graduates through the IDs**

* * *

-"I got it! It's so clear to me now!"- Akane gasped, attracting everybody's attention –"I think I know why Matsukaze-san's ID was found in the lockers room, and why he instructed Hikasa-san to leave his ID in that room as well!"-

-"Cool. What is it?"- Reiji asked, prompting Akane to respond

-"These IDs we were given…aren't just keys to our bedrooms and other stuff. Monobear uses them to spy us!"-

As soon as she said 'spy', almost everybody took their IDs out, and examined them carefully. The Chemist continued –"Earlier, Matsukaze-san and I went into the office. Monobear found us very shortly after we entered. For him to have known we were there without authorization he would have needed some way to be alerted of our moves"-

-"Maybe you two tripped an alarm"- Toriumi theorized

-"Neither Hikasa-san or Matsukaze-san were known to have entered Monobear's office, right? Then there can't really be an alarm, unless Monobear randomly deactivated it. I think that Matsukaze somehow linked everything to the IDs, and took the risk to sneak into the office after leaving it. Seeing how long he was in the office, taking in account when the Monobear spare was controlled, I'd bet that his deductions were correct. He escaped Monobear's vigilance by hiding his ID!"-

-"And that's why he asked me to do the same…"- Hikasa finished the train of thought –"He made sure I'd be undetected too while I was in the office"-

-"No! Not fair! This isn't supposed to be something you bastards are privy to!"- Monobear interrupted –"I'm going to have to take measures against this: From now on, all of you must keep your IDs within the same room you are, at all times!"-

-"This practically confirms that we're right. You spy us through the IDs"-

-"It does make sense…the IDs would need something akin to waves in order to transmit data…Monobear does have wave receptors incorporated, I did see it. Smart thinking, Ogata-kun"- Chiba said, impressed. She then threw the ball at Akane, and continued -"As much as it feels nice to have found out about this, it doesn't help much to name the culprit"-

-"It's Hikasa-san. He denied being in the office and was the only one to talk to Matsukaze-san"- Sakurai accused

-"No, I think there may be another possibility…Matsukaze-san said he had two Mastermind suspects, right? Ginchiyo-san was one, but who was the other one? Hikasa-san? I doubt it."- Kudo turned towards the Weightlifter –"Sorry man, but I don't think you'd ever have a chance to be a Mastermind"-

-"Then he called Hikasa-san to talk to him because…"- Yukio prompted Kudo to continue

-"Eeeeeh…maybe because Hikasa-san would be the one who could tell him more about Ginchiyo-san. It's pretty obvious they are, at the very least, friends. So, if Hikasa-san was called for this, then maybe another of us was summoned to tell information about the second suspect"-

-"Oh…you may be right"- Sakurai conceded –"Then who was called? Say aye if you talked to the Detective!"- Nobody said a thing, leaving Sakurai forlorn –"Nobody wants to cooperate with me. Woe is me"-

-"The second person is the killer! If he or she hadn't anything to fear, maybe he or she would have talked!"- Ginchiyo said

-"Or maybe Hikasa killed Matsukaze and there never was a second person"- Curtis reminded them all once again that the Weightlifter was still a suspect

-"But no other clues point towards a concrete person! The rest of the evidence we haven't examined yet are related to the explosion, and I think it's clear it was to…to…what was it for, again?"- There were shrugs but no answer

-"Doesn't really matter. I think there's one more piece of evidence that could work"- Toriumi smirked. She seemed pretty confident about what she was going to say. However, what followed wasn't what they expected –"So, who hasn't taken the ball yet?"-

-"Who cares about the ball? We're in a trial!"- Yamaguchi replied, annoyed

-"Oh, it's just curiosity. Agile hands, agile mind. So, who hasn't taken the ball yet?"- she repeated. Miyata, the twins and Curtis raised their hands. –"Whoever has it throw it to Curtis"- Akane complied, wondering what was going on. The toy had been passed from hand to hand during the trial with seemingly no purpose

After Curtis received it, the Private Tutor instructed him to throw it to anybody he wanted. The Artist chose Yukio. _Toriumi wouldn__'t do this without reason__…but what can it be?_

-"Excellent. Now to your brother, Ohmoto-kun"- Yukio flung it to Reiji, who caught it easily. _It doesn__'t help at all. Agility has nothing to do. It__'s just a ball. Throwing a ball, catching a ball__…_

_…with their hands__…_

_…_

_Of course!_

As if it were in slow motion, Akane watched Toriumi ask for the ball to be thrown to the last graduate. Reiji aimed towards Miyata's chest, and flung it. It flew through the air towards its target. The CEO easily caught the ball…_with his left hand_

Toriumi gasped loudly, but disguised it as a cough. –"Sorry, allergy. Now throw it back to me"- she asked for the toy. Miyata shrugged and threw the ball…_with his left hand again_

-"Toriumi-san, you did all of this to…it was all because...our hands? Our dominant hand?"- Akane stuttered. The excitation was too much. Toriumi had managed to fool her, and most likely everybody else with the inane game.

Toriumi was pretty happy, smiling openly for the first time. –"The screwdriver, Akane-kun, remember it. Being observant is the key. And since it's true, I kept an eye on each of you people's dominant hands. Only one of you used the left hand to_ throw_ it. While some of you did catch it with your left hand, all of you used the right to throw it, which is to be expected from right-handed people.

And seeing where the screwdriver had been placed on Matsukaze's neck…I'd say it's pretty conclusive to say our culprit is left-handed"- she took a deep breath, very satisfied. She glanced at Miyata, who seemed like a deer blinded by the headlights. –"So congrats, Miyata!

You have turned into our prime suspect now"-


End file.
